Maine

Maine has an unusually small set of statewide elected executives: the Governor is the only official elected by the voters statewide. There is no lieutenant governor at all, if the office becomes vacant, the President of the Senate acts as governor. And the other constitutional officers are not elected by the public either: the Secretary of State, the State Treasurer, and the Attorney General are each chosen by a joint vote of the Legislature, while the State Auditor is also legislatively selected.

That makes Maine, like Tennessee, a state where the Legislature fills the major non-gubernatorial offices. The Governor appoints the heads of the executive departments, but the broader pattern is a governor elected alone, surrounded by officers who answer to the Legislature rather than to the Governor or the voters directly.

The Maine Legislature is bicameral: a 35-seat State Senate and a 151-seat House of Representatives, with all members serving two-year terms and limited to four consecutive terms (eight years) in a chamber. It is a part-time, citizen legislature, with relatively low pay, so members generally hold other jobs.

The Legislature is constituted for two years and holds two annual sessions: a longer "first regular session" in odd years and a shorter "second regular session" in even years, with statutory targets for adjournment. Because the Legislature also elects most of the state’s constitutional officers, it sits at the center of Maine government to an unusual degree.

A bill is introduced, sent to a joint committee (Maine, like Massachusetts and Connecticut, routes most bills through committees of both chambers), and, if it advances, voted on the floor of each chamber, with differences reconciled before final passage. The Governor can sign a bill, veto it, or let it become law; Maine’s governor has no line-item veto, so bills must be accepted or rejected whole, and a veto override takes two-thirds of each chamber.

Maine has a strong citizen-initiative tradition: voters can enact statutes by initiative (an indirect process, in which a measure goes to the Legislature first and then to the ballot if lawmakers do not adopt it) and overturn laws by "people’s veto" referendum. And Maine’s signature innovation is ranked-choice voting, it became the first state to adopt RCV statewide, using it for primaries and federal elections after voters approved it at the ballot, despite resistance from the Legislature and challenges in court.

The Governor appoints the heads of the executive departments, proposes the budget, can call special sessions, holds emergency powers, and holds the clemency power. But the office sits in an unusual web: there is no lieutenant governor, and the Secretary of State, Treasurer, Attorney General, and Auditor are all chosen by the Legislature, so the Governor cannot staff those offices and they answer to lawmakers instead.

Maine’s governor has no line-item veto, a comparatively weak budget tool, and the two-thirds override and the citizen "people’s veto" both serve as checks. The result is a governor elected with a strong independent mandate but operating alongside a Legislature that controls much of the rest of state government.

Maine’s judges are appointed, not elected. The Governor nominates them, a legislative committee holds confirmation hearings, and the State Senate confirms; judges then serve seven-year terms and may be reappointed. The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, often called the "Law Court" when it hears appeals, sits at the top, above the trial-level Superior and District courts. The appoint-and-confirm model keeps Maine’s judiciary out of electoral politics.