Governor-elect Hannah Pingree named former state Sen. Roger Katz and Maulian Bryant co-chairs of her Transition Committee on Nov. 5, her transition team announced. The state gives her $5,000 for the transition and her inauguration, which the announcement says means she must raise funds.
She will be sworn in as Maine's 76th governor on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2027, 58 days after Nov. 9. Gov. Janet Mills hosted Pingree at the State House and the Blaine House on Friday, Nov. 6, to begin the handoff.
Who is running it
The Transition Committee is a group of volunteers that will help identify candidates for her Cabinet. Katz is chair of the Board of Trustees of the University of Maine System, a former mayor of Augusta and served four terms in the Maine Senate, where he sat on the Appropriations Committee and chaired the Government Oversight Committee. Bryant is a member of the Penobscot Nation Tribal Council, the tribe's former ambassador to the State of Maine, executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance and a member of the Maine Climate Council, according to the transition announcement.
Staff work falls to co-directors Scott Ogden and Karen Geraghty. Ogden was deputy chief of staff to Mills and coordinates personnel decisions, legislative and policy agenda development, stakeholder engagement and daily operations. Geraghty led philanthropy at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and served as a Portland city councilor and mayor. She will direct planning for the January 2027 inaugural event.
Who pays
Maine law requires two committees, one for the transition and one for the inauguration. The $5,000 allowance covers both. Pingree's transition website takes donations. It also lets residents apply to serve in her Cabinet and Executive Office, follow updates and sign up for news.
What is not yet public
The announcement does not say how many seats the Transition Committee will have or how Cabinet candidates will be screened. The team said it will announce more personnel, including the full membership, in the coming days. Until then, the public knows who leads the committee but not who else will help find Cabinet candidates.
Mills said in a Governor's Office release that she looks forward to working with Pingree's team "to provide the smooth and effective transition the Maine people expect and deserve." Pingree said she is committed to "a seamless, efficient transition" and added: "Mainers don't have time to waste, and neither do I. The winter is coming, and the work doesn't pause between administrations."