Leadership
Maine Democrats
Charles Dingman
About Chair Dingman
Charles F. (“Charlie”) Dingman has lived in the rural community of Leeds, in northern Androscoggin County, since 1979. He is an attorney based in Augusta, where he has worked at the Maine Public Utilities Commission, served as General Counsel of the Maine Health Care Finance Commission, and now practices privately with a focus on health care law and policy.
Alongside his professional work, Charlie has dedicated significant time to public service and community engagement. He has been a longtime volunteer with Maine Equal Justice, a nonprofit legal services organization focused on advancing economic fairness and opportunity for working families. Locally, he and his partner, Eliza Townsend, are helping to build community through a new nonprofit initiative in their town. In his free time, he enjoys hiking and has explored trails across Maine’s mountains, forests, and coastline.
Charlie has extensive experience in local and party leadership. He served on the Leeds school board for two decades, including many years as chair, and has moderated town meetings for decades. He ran for the Maine House of Representatives in 2014 and has often served as chair of his municipal Democratic caucus (and, in 2026, its first regional caucus with several adjacent towns). He was a delegate for Bernie Sanders to the State Convention in both 2016 and 2020 and served as chair of the Maine Democratic Party Finance Committee from 2016 to 2023.
Through his legal career, Charlie has advocated before all three branches of Maine government and brings a strong understanding of how political and legal systems function. He believes deeply in the role of the Democratic Party in protecting the health, well-being, and economic security of all Maine people. He was moved to seek the office of DSC Chair in 2025 in response to the dangerous political crisis facing our nation, coupled with a sense that continued Democratic Party success in Maine depends on reinvigorating our role as the party of Maine’s working people.
Imke Schessler
About Vice Chair Schessler
Imke Schessler is a communications professional, educator, civic leader, and Democratic Party activist based in Bangor, Maine. She earned both a B.A. and an M.A. in Communication from the University of Maine. Imke previously served on the Bangor School Committee where she elevated the importance of equity in education and student-centered learning. Her contribution to quality, accessible education continues at her alma mater, where she serves as an Adjunct Instructor in the Communication Department, a role which affords her the opportunity to be a proud, card-carrying member of the Part-time Faculty Association of Maine (PATFA), Local 4593.
Imke’s civic impact on Bangor is as wide as her roots are deep. In addition to her longtime service in public education, Imke works to promote and enhance the city’s economic vitality via her role as President of the Downtown Bangor Partnership Board of Directors. There, she serves as a conduit for collaboration by establishing and strengthening partnerships between city officials, businesses, and cultural organizations with the goal of better-informed local investment strategies geared towards strengthening Bangor’s economy. Additionally, as an organizing member of Friends of the Lower Kenduskeag Stream, Imke helps to coordinate and promote volunteer-driven environmental clean-up efforts along the Kenduskeag Stream. .
Imke’s community-building efforts can also be seen through her role as Vice Chair of the Maine Democratic Party; a position she has held since 2025. In this position, Imke’s communication skills, creative energy, and results-driven approach is on full display as she crisscrosses the state to help facilitate cooperation and partnership among local Party leadership and rank-and-file Democrats alike. A grassroots organizer at heart, Imke believes in the concept of strength by renewal and inclusion. As such, much of her work focuses on expanding outreach efforts and increasing civic engagement, particularly among working class Mainers in rural and underrepresented communities across the state.
