| Miss Maine | |
| Formation: | 1923 |
| Type: | Beauty pageant |
| Headquarters: | Portland |
| Location: | Maine |
| Membership: | Miss America |
| Language: | English |
| Key People: | Sarah Nadeau-Balducci (Executive Director) |
| Website: | Official website |
The Miss Maine competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Maine in the Miss America pageant. Maine has been represented in the pageant since 1937, although the state has never produced a winner.
With Alaska became the latest state crowned the Miss America title, Maine is one of the few states along with South Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming that has yet to win a Miss America, Miss USA, or Miss Teen USA title.
Jennie Daley was crowned Miss Maine 2024 on June 30, 2024, at Freeport Performing Arts Center in Freeport. She will compete for the title of Miss America 2025.
The following is a visual summary of the past results of Miss Maine titleholders at the national Miss America pageants/competitions. The year in parentheses indicates the year of the national competition during which a placement and/or award was garnered, not the year attached to the contestant's state title.
| Year | Name | Hometown | Age | Local Title | Miss America Talent | Placement at Miss America | Special scholarships at Miss America | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Jennie Daley | Sullivan | 28 | Miss Downeast | HerStory: I Want to Be An Engineer | TBA | TBA | |
| 2023 | Veronica Druchniak | Standish | 27 | Aerial Acrobatics | Preliminary Talent Award | |||
| 2022 | Madison Leslie | Lewiston | 22 | Vocal, "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen | Previously Miss Maine's Outstanding Teen 2016[1] | |||
| 2021 | Mariah Larocque | Portland | 25 | Miss Sunrise County | Vocal, "I Who Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston | colspan="3" | ||
| Miss Congeniality (unanimous) | ||||||||
| 2019–20 | Carolyn Brady[2] | Brunswick | 22 | Violin, "Roundtable Rival" by Lindsey Stirling | First African American to win title 4th runner-up at Miss Maine USA 2017 pageant[3] | |||
| 2018 | Olivia Mayo[4] | Minot | 20 | Vocal, "Send In the Clowns" | ||||
| 2017 | Katie Elliott[5] | Scarborough | 22 | Vocal, "Someone to Watch Over Me" | Previously Miss Maine's Outstanding Teen 2013[6] | |||
| 2016 | Marybeth Noonan[7] | Raymond | 20 | Vocal, "I Got Rhythm" from Girl Crazy | Previously Miss Maine's Outstanding Teen 2010[8] Contestant at National Sweetheart 2015 pageant | |||
| 2015 | Kelsey Earley[9] | Lebanon | 24 | Miss York Harbor | Clogging, "Happy" by C2C | Contestant at National Sweetheart 2012 pageant | ||
| 2014 | Audrey Thames | Topsham | 19 | Miss Topsham | Comedic Monologue, "Yma Dream" by Thomas Meehan | |||
| 2013 | Kristin Korda[10] | Saco | 21 | Miss Casco Bay | Vocal, "Finding Wonderland" | Non-finalist Talent Award | Previously Miss Maine's Outstanding Teen 2009[11] | |
| 2012 | Molly Bouchard | Caribou | 21 | Miss Northern Aroostook | Classical Vocal, "Quando m'en vò" from La bohème | Previously Maine's Junior Miss 2008 | ||
| 2011 | Julia Furtado[12] | Dayton | 19 | Miss Seacoast | Vocal, "Over the Rainbow" | |||
| 2010 | Arikka Knights | Chester | 24 | Miss Greater Lincoln | Tap Dance, "Jumpin' Jack" | Contestant at National Sweetheart 2007 pageant | ||
| 2009 | Susie Stauble | Gray | 22 | Vocal, "Stand Up for Love" | Non-finalist Talent Award | |||
| 2008 | Adrienne Watkinson | Topsham | 23 | Miss Topsham | Violin | |||
| 2007 | Tara Allain[13] | Waterville | 22 | Miss Kennebec County | Dance, "Hangin' By a Thread" | |||
| 2006 | Karissa Staples | Biddeford | 19 | Miss Greater Portland | Vocal, "Take Me or Leave Me" from Rent | |||
| 2005 | Megan Beals | Ludlow | 22 | Miss Houlton | Vocal, "Johnny One Note" | |||
| 2004 | Ami Vice | Lisbon Falls | 23 | Classical Vocal, "Chi Il Bel Sogno di Doretta" from La rondine | Bernie Wayne Scholarship Non-finalist Talent Award | |||
| 2003 | Elizabeth Edgecomb | Limestone | 20 | Classical Piano, Fantaisie-Impromptu | Non-finalist Talent Award | |||
| 2002 | Rachel Wadsworth | Hiram | 20 | Miss Forest City | Rhythm Tap Dance | Contestant at National Sweetheart 2001 pageant | ||
| 2001 | Meranda Hafford | Washburn | 20 | Miss Northern Aroostook | Vocal, "Next Time I Love" | |||
| 2000 | Renee Belanger | 22 | Jazz Dance, "Jet Prologue" from West Side Story | |||||
| 1999 | Rebecca Pelkey | Howland | 21 | Miss Greater Portland | Character Ballet, "Can-can" | |||
| 1998 | Stephany Stanley | Canton | 20 | Miss Southeast | Acro-Jazz Dance, "The Stampede!" from The Lion King | Contestant at National Sweetheart 1997 pageant | ||
| 1997 | Rachel Binder | Presque Isle | 23 | Miss Aroostook County | Lyrical Ballet. "Seasons of Love" | |||
| 1996 | Sarah Nadeau | Portland | 20 | Miss Greater Portland | Classical Vocal, "Addio" from La bohème | |||
| 1995 | Sharon Pelletier | Madawaska | 23 | Popular Vocal, "At This Moment" | ||||
| 1994 | Victoria Reynolds | Bangor | 22 | Miss Cumberland County | Tap Dance | |||
| 1993 | Josette Huntress | Limestone | 21 | Miss Northern Maine | Piano | |||
| 1992 | Christina Jane Lasso | Augusta | 23 | Miss Central Maine | Classical Vocal, "Una Voce Poco Fa" from The Barber of Seville | |||
| 1991 | Dorie Noble | South Portland | 25 | Miss Cumberland County | Comedic Monologue, "Yma Dream" by Thomas Meehan | |||
| 1990 | Ann Rowe | Auburn | 26 | Miss Greater Portland | Vocal, "Bring Him Home" from Les Misérables | |||
| 1989 | Jane Brochu | Augusta | 25 | Miss Augusta | Vocal, "Stormy Weather" | |||
| 1988 | Lisa Kent | Gorham | 21 | Miss Cumberland County | Gymnastics / Jazz Dance | |||
| 1987 | Laurie Wathen | Fort Fairfield | 25 | Miss Northern Aroostook | Piano, "Symphony No. 9" by Ludwig van Beethoven | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
| 1986 | Victoria Reed | Falmouth | 26 | Miss Windjammer | Vocal, "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" | |||
| 1985 | Mary Margaret Nightingale | Fort Fairfield | 20 | Miss Southern Aroostook | Vocal, "The Blue Danube" | |||
| 1984 | Lisa Johnson | South Portland | 22 | Miss Cumberland County | Electric Violin | |||
| 1983 | Brenda Theriault | Presque Isle | 22 | Miss Southern Aroostook | Vocal, "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey" | |||
| 1982 | Rebecca Beck | Brunswick | 21 | Miss Bangor | Classical Vocal, "Adele's Laughing Song" from Die Fledermaus | |||
| 1981 | Kathleen Jarrell | Orr's Island | 19 | Miss Windjammer | Vocal Medley, "Swanee", "My Mammy", & "I'm Happy" | |||
| 1980 | Valerie Crooker | Brunswick | 24 | Miss Brunswick | Vocal / Dance | Previously Miss Maine USA 1979 | ||
| 1979 | Jill O'Brien | Bangor | 22 | Miss Bangor | Ballet, "Irish Suite" | |||
| 1978 | Linda Carroll | Alfred | 22 | Miss Maine Mall | Semi-classical Vocal, "I Could Have Danced All Night" from My Fair Lady | |||
| 1977 | Terry Gilpatrick | Lincoln | 18 | Miss Lincoln | Pantomime, "Me and My Shadow" | |||
| 1976 | Susan Wanbaugh | Presque Isle | 19 | Miss Maine Potato Queen | Dramatic Monologue from As You Like It | |||
| 1975 | Patricia Cyr | Madawaska | 18 | Vocal, "Cabaret" | ||||
| 1974 | Margaret Ann Welch | Bangor | 22 | Miss Greater Bangor | Vocal, "Killing Me Softly with His Song" | |||
| 1973 | Carlene Quimby | Auburn | 20 | Miss University of Maine | Vocal, "I Cain't Say No" from Oklahoma! | |||
| 1972 | Marilyn Lash | Friendship | 19 | Semi-classical Vocal, "Poor Wand'ring One" from The Pirates of Penzance | Non-finalist Talent Award | |||
| 1971 | Allyn Warner | Falmouth | 21 | Miss Greater Portland | Semi-classical Vocal, "Mira" from Carnival | 4th runner-up | Preliminary Talent Award | |
| 1970 | Karen Johanna Johnson | Cumberland Foreside | 20 | Classical Vocal, "Quando me'n vo'" | 2nd runner-up | |||
| 1969 | Kirsten Elizabeth Bell | Caribou | 18 | Miss Caribou | Piano, Theme from The Apartment | |||
| 1968 | Brenda Renee Verceles | Bangor | 19 | Miss Bangor | Tap Dance, "Step to the Rear" from How Now, Dow Jones | |||
| 1967 | Linda Christine Livanda | Cape Elizabeth | 19 | Miss Cape Elizabeth | Original Recitation & Dance, "Dance of the Decades" | |||
| 1966 | Mary Kathryn Gonya | Millinocket | 20 | Miss Millinocket | Recitation | |||
| 1965 | Ellen Margaret Fowler | Old Orchard Beach | 19 | Miss Gorham State Teachers' College | Vocal / Dance, "Some People" | |||
| 1964 | Ellen Warren | Kennebunk | 18 | Vocal / Dance | ||||
| 1963 | Elaine Ann Ouillette | Lewiston | Miss Lewiston | Musical Variety Act | ||||
| 1962 | Barbara Jean Orr | Portland | 19 | Miss Livermore Falls | Vocal, "I Wanna Be Loved by You" | |||
| 1961 | Dawne Frances Christie | Gray | 21 | Miss Scarborough | Piano, "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 11" | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
| 1960 | Sally Ann Robinson | Enfield | 20 | Miss Lincoln | Monologue / Piano | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
| 1959 | Linda Mills | Lewiston | 18 | Dramatic Reading | ||||
| 1958 | Terry Suzanne Tripp | Ballet | ||||||
| 1957 | Carol Ann Bartels | Bath | Drama / Art | |||||
| 1956 | Mary Ellen Sanborn | Gardiner | Drama | |||||
| 1955 | Janice Vaughn | Waterville | Dramatic Monologue | |||||
| 1954 | Mary Ellen St. John | Old Town | Drama | |||||
| 1953 | Karen Diane Thorsell | Portland | Vocal | |||||
| 1952 | Norma Lee Collins | Caribou | ||||||
| 1951 | Beverly Ann Emery | Auburn | Classical Vocal from The Student Prince | |||||
| 1950 | Jane Harragan | Millinocket | Dramatic Monologue, "The Corn Is Green" | |||||
| 1949 | Connie Gingrass | Augusta | Fencing | |||||
| 1948 | Muriel Applebee | Enfield | ||||||
| 1947 | No Maine representative at Miss America pageant[14] [15] | |||||||
| 1946 | ||||||||
| 1945 | Virginia Trask | Portland | 18 | Vocal, "I Should Care" | ||||
| 1944 | No Maine representative at Miss America pageant[16] | |||||||
| 1943 | Eleanor Fournier | Westbrook | ||||||
| 1942 | No Maine representative at Miss America pageant[17] [18] | |||||||
| 1941 | ||||||||
| 1940 | Shirley Edith Houston | Augusta | ||||||
| 1939 | No Maine representative at Miss America pageant[19] | |||||||
| 1938 | Doris Marie Bergeron | Lewiston | ||||||
| 1937 | Cornelia Campbell | South Portland | ||||||
| 1936 | Edna Smith | Portland | Miss Portland | |||||
| Dolly Stewart | Rockland | |||||||
| 1935 | Edith Lucresa Smith | |||||||
| 1934 | No national pageant was held[20] | |||||||
| 1933 | Iva Stewart | 19 | [21] | Top 18 | ||||
| 1932 | No national pageants were held | |||||||
| 1931 | ||||||||
| 1930 | ||||||||
| 1929 | ||||||||
| 1928 | ||||||||
| 1924–1927 | No Maine representative at Miss America pageant[22] [23] [24] [25] | |||||||
| 1923 | Winona Evelyn Drew[26] | Portland | Miss Portland | |||||
| 1922 | ||||||||
| 1921 | ||||||||
In 2015, pageant contestant Marisa Butler attracted controversy for her volunteer role catching and tagging sharks with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Butler was staging bikini shot pictures after dragging sharks onto the beach to be tagged - a practice considered by experts to be harmful. Butler responded to the criticism on Facebook, writing: “I am working towards spreading awareness and changing public opinion about sharks.” [27]