Jonathan Bush Launches $100,000 Ad Push in Bangor Council Race

Tech entrepreneur Jonathan Bush opened an advertising campaign aimed at Bangor's city council election with a rally of roughly 20 people in West Market Square on the morning of October 12, the Bangor Daily News reported.

Bush, a Cape Elizabeth resident who co-founded Athenahealth and lost the 2026 Republican primary for governor, said the previous week that his nonprofit, Maine for Keeps, would commit $100,000 to municipal contests in three cities: Bangor, Waterville and Lewiston. He told the newspaper he skipped Portland because he did not believe candidates he favors could win there.

The group has posted more than 10 ads on Meta platforms focused on taxes and crime, according to the Meta ad library, and Bush said streaming ads are also planned. In remarks at the rally he faulted harm reduction policy and the Yellen Pines development, which is to provide housing for 30 chronically homeless people.

The money lands in a nonpartisan race with a record 12 candidates seeking three seats. Irv Masters, who owns the Bangor Letter Shop on Washington Street, welcomed the attention and cited encampments near his business. Candidates John King, Andrei Yermakov and Dawson Nevells objected to the outside spending, with Nevells writing that Bangor's future should be decided by its residents.

Vincent Harris is running the local election effort for Maine for Keeps.

This story was first reported by Bangor Daily News.