Steven Sheppard

Steven Sheppard

Republican Party

Candidate, Governor of Maine

Elections and appointments

Next election

November 3, 2026

Education

High school

Lake Howell High school

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Navy

Years of service

1990 - 1992

Personal

Birthplace

Alexandria, Va.

Religion

Christian

Profession

Program manager

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

Steven Sheppard (Republican Party) is running for election for Governor of Maine. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.^[source]

Sheppard completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Steven Sheppard was born in Alexandria, Virginia. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1990 to 1992. He earned a high school diploma from Lake Howell High School. His career experience includes working as a program manager, production coordinator, estimator, pool cleaner, auto mechanic, HVAC superintendent, secretary, and computer tech. Sheppard has been affiliated with Stevision, Veterans' Affairs, and the Appalachian Trail.

Elections

2026

See also: Maine gubernatorial election, 2026

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for Governor of Maine

The following candidates are running in the general election for Governor of Maine on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Shenna Bellows (D)
		Jason Cherry (D)
		Kenneth Forrest Pinet (D)
		Troy Dale Jackson (D)
		Angus King III (D)
		Hannah Pingree (D)
	Submit photo	Ken A. Capron (R)
	Submit photo	Bobby Charles (R)
	Submit photo	David Jones (R)
		James Libby (R)
	Submit photo	Owen McCarthy (R)
	Submit photo	Ben Midgley (R)
		Steven Sheppard (R)
		Robert J. Wessels (R)
		Richard Bennett (Independent)
		John Glowa (Independent)
		Alexander Murchison (Independent)

---

	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Maria Aguilo (R)

Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Steven Sheppard completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Sheppard's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I was born in Alexandria, Virginia on March 16, 1969; I am a Pisces with ab negative type blood. My mother gave me the ab negative type blood; my mother told me years ago that I would surely be different than the other children. When I was in the sixth grade, I remember my English teacher Mrs. Sillers told me I would be President someday.

I graduated from Lake Howell High school in Orlando, FL and went straight to college on a partial football scholarship to Tiffin University in Tiffin, Ohio- I was a dragon. In college I lettered as a freshman punter, and I became starting QB quarterback in 1988. I came home from college in 1988 and worked a year then went into the submarine navy during the Gulf War. The navy retired me with a rare mental illness. I live in Bangor, Maine by myself with my black cat Max and I ride a 2020 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 custom around in the good weather.

I love Maine and I travel around a lot visiting. I will be a great Governor someday.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I love Maine.
• Maine is going to be alright.
• Democracy will prove itself again.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Parks and Recreation

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Chevy Chase

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

"Moses Sheppard Quaker Philanthropist of Baltimore" by Bliss Forbush

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

I believe our elected officials need to have better proof they have been in leadership positions before. Leaders come from our grade schools especially. Bad politicians are a product of bad children in school especially.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Responsible, computer literate, estimator, mechanic, typing, secretary and politicians before.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

To help as many people in Maine as possible.

What legacy would you like to leave?

Sheppard

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

My mother ran over my legs; I fell out of her Plymouth Duster when I was three years old and the car ran my legs over and broke them both.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I was a disc jockey in Laurens, SC at the roller skating rink for several months in high school.

What is your favorite book? Why?

"Spare" by Prince Harry. Somebody finally admitted to smoking marijuana in the literary kingdom.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Zeus.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Daniel by Elton John

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Racial profiling and discrimination from the Jewish

Governors have many responsibilities, which vary from state to state. Which of those do you personally consider the most important in your state?

The main responsibility will be the AT Appalachian Trail.

Different states require governors to have different degrees of responsibility for the state budgeting process. If it were your choice, what do you believe is the appropriate degree of gubernatorial involvement with this process in your state?

Governor helps write a budget.

In most states, governors have the power to make line-item vetoes. If that is true in your state, what would be your philosophy for how and when to use this power?

I will use the power when necessary.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

Trust.

What do you love most about your state?

Parks and Recreation.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

The Free and Sovereign State of northern Maine

Tell us your favorite joke.

No.

Under what circumstances should the governor of your state be able to use emergency powers?

All emergency responses necessary.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

Government owns everything according to the Articles of Confederation. Without the Articles of Confederation there exists no state, no union and no judiciary system. Government owns us.

Do you support or oppose changes to the current state ballot initiative process? If so, what kind of changes would you consider?

Undecided

A governor is the top executive authority in his or her state. What does that mean to you?

The people need help from me especially because I am a Christian/Quaker leader of society anyway.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.

See also

2026 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. Congress U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

The Daily Brew The Weekly Brew The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Hall Pass Number of the Day Robe & Gavel Union Station

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Candidate

Governor of Maine

Website

Facebook

Personal

Facebook

Footnotes

2026 state executive official elections

Governor

Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Florida • Georgia • Guam • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Iowa • Kansas • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Mexico • New York • Northern Mariana Islands • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Vermont • U.S. Virgin Islands • Wisconsin • Wyoming

Lieutenant Governor

Alabama • Alaska • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Florida • Georgia • Guam • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Iowa • Kansas • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Nebraska • Nevada • New Mexico • New York • Northern Mariana Islands • Ohio • Oklahoma • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Texas • Vermont • U.S. Virgin Islands • Wisconsin

Attorney General

Alabama • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Guam • Idaho • Illinois • Iowa • Kansas • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Nebraska • Nevada • New Mexico • New York • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Texas • Vermont • Wisconsin

Secretary of State

Alabama • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Georgia • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Nebraska • Nevada • New Mexico • North Dakota • Ohio • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Vermont • Wisconsin • Wyoming

Treasurer

Alabama • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Massachusetts • Nebraska • Nevada • New Mexico • Ohio • Oklahoma • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Vermont • Wisconsin • Wyoming

Auditor

Alabama • Arkansas • Delaware • Iowa • Massachusetts • Minnesota • Missouri • Nebraska • New Mexico • Ohio • Oklahoma • South Dakota • Vermont • Wyoming

Comptroller

California • Connecticut • Idaho • Illinois • Maryland • Nevada • New York • South Carolina • Texas

Education officials

Alabama (board of education) • Arizona (superintendent) • California (superintendent) • Colorado (board of education) • Colorado (board of regent) • District of Columbia (board of education) • Georgia (superintendent) • Guam (education board) • Idaho (superintendent) • Kansas (board of education) • Michigan (board of education) • Michigan (board of regent) • Michigan (board of trustees) • Michigan (board of governors) • Nebraska (board of education) • Nebraska (board of regents) • Nevada (board of regents) • New Mexico (board of education) • Northern Mariana Islands (board of education) • Ohio (board of education) • Oklahoma (superintendent) • South Carolina (superintendent) • Texas (board of education) • Utah (board of education) • U.S. Virgin Islands (board of education) • Wyoming (superintendent)

Commissioners

Alabama (agriculture) • Alabama (public service) • Arizona (corporation) • Arizona (mine inspector) • Arkansas (public lands) • California (board of equalization) • California (insurance) • Florida (agriculture) • Georgia (agriculture) • Georgia (labor) • Georgia (insurance) • Georgia (public service) • Guam (utilities) • Hawaii (Hawaiian affairs) • Iowa (agriculture) • Kansas (insurance) • Louisiana (public service) • Massachusetts (governor's council) • Montana (public service) • Nebraska (public service) • New Hampshire (executive council) • New Mexico (public lands) • North Dakota (agriculture) • North Dakota (public service) • North Dakota (tax) • Oklahoma (corporation) • Oklahoma (insurance) • Oklahoma (labor) • Oregon (labor) • South Carolina (agriculture) • South Dakota (public lands) • South Dakota (public utilities) • Texas (agriculture) • Texas (public lands) • Texas (railroad)