Maine Republican gubernatorial candidate Bobby Charles has centered his entire campaign on positioning himself as a tough-on-drugs champion, touring recovery centers and promising to “shut down” meth trafficking across the state. But newly uncovered lobbying disclosures expose a damning reality: even though Charles has presented himself as a crusader against drug abuse, he has taken in $70,000 from a pharmaceutical company to lobby federal regulators for looser restrictions on a drug that could be used to manufacture illegal methamphetamine.
According to official federal filings, Charles’s Washington, D.C., firm, The Charles Group, LLC, was paid $70,000 between 2012 and 2014 by Highland Pharmaceuticals and its subsidiary Westport Pharmaceuticals. Charles’ explicit mission was to push federal regulators to clear Zephrex-D, a pseudoephedrine-based medication, for over-the-counter sales, even after the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) refused to allow the product to be sold over the counter because it was a prime precursor for illicit meth production.
Despite corporate claims that Zephrex-D was “meth-resistant,” DEA chemists converted the product into methamphetamine. Even after federal law enforcement reported the severe dangers, Charles kept lobbying for weakened oversight that would put meth ingredients back on store shelves.
This explosive conflict between Charles’ public rhetoric and private greed was brought to light in an investigation conducted by the Portland Press Herald, detailing how the D.C. insider repeatedly put high-paying corporate interests ahead of community safety.
“Bobby Charles is a self-serving D.C. lobbyist who lined his pockets defending a meth-capable drug and now expects Maine voters to ignore his past as a lobbyist,” said Tiffiany Vaughn, a spokesperson at American Bridge 21st Century. “He ignored the dangers this drug posed and still took money to make it more available. He has zero integrity, zero credibility, and is completely unfit to serve as governor.”
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Published: Sep 17, 2026