Joseph Edward Brennan (November 2, 1934 – April 6, 2024) was an American lawyer and politician from Maine. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 70th Governor of Maine from 1979 to 1987 and in the United States House of Representatives for Maine's 1st congressional district from 1987 to 1991.^[1] Brennan was a commissioner on the Federal Maritime Commission during the Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama administrations.

Brennan was born on November 2, 1934, in Portland, Maine.^[2] He lived on Kellogg Street, on the third floor of tenement housing on Munjoy Hill.^[3][4] He was raised in a family of eight children, with his parents being Irish immigrants.^[4] Brennan graduated from Cheverus High School,^[5] Boston College, and the University of Maine School of Law. Brennan served in the United States Army from 1953 to 1955.^[6]

Brennan won election to the Maine House of Representatives in 1964, and served three terms.^[6] When first elected to the Maine House he did not own a car and hitchhiked up from Portland.^[7] In 1970, he was elected county attorney for Cumberland County. When he was District Attorney, his Munjoy Hill house was shot up, with bullets landing by his infant daughter. This led Brennan to support the ban on assault-style weapons in the United States.^[8] He was elected to the Maine Senate in 1972.^[6]

Brennan ran for governor of Maine in 1974; he lost the Democratic nomination to George J. Mitchell.^[9] The Maine Legislature selected Brennan to be the Maine Attorney General on January 2, 1975.^[10] As attorney general, Brennan took part in negotiations with both Wabanaki tribes and the federal government on what became the Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement Act of 1980, a federal law enacted during the presidency of Jimmy Carter.^[4] Brennan ran for governor again in 1978, winning the primary and general elections. Brennan was reelected in a landslide in 1982, serving as governor from 1979 to 1987. As governor, Brennan launched education reforms, pressed for tough highway safety measures, and helped to establish the Finance Authority of Maine.^[4] Among the notable people Brennan appointed as governor were renowned Maine U.S. Senator George J. Mitchell and future Governor of Maine Janet T. Mills,^[4] whom Brennan appointed as the first female district attorney in the New England region.^[11][12][4]

In 1986, Brennan ran for the U.S. House in Maine's 1st congressional district and defeated Republican Rollin Ives with 53% of the vote.^[13] After serving two terms in the House, Brennan ran for governor again in 1990, losing to Republican John McKernan.^[14] He ran again in 1994, losing to Independent Angus King, but placing second, ahead of Republican Susan Collins.^[15] He faced Collins in another statewide election in 1996, running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Bill Cohen,^[16] which Collins won.^[17]

In 1999, President Bill Clinton nominated Brennan to serve as a commissioner on the Federal Maritime Commission, a small independent agency that regulates shipping between the U.S. and foreign countries.^[18] He was re-nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed for a second term at the FMC in 2004.^[19]

Joe married Connie LaPointe Brennan in 1994. They subsequently had two children together: J. B. Brennan, who is a 25-year veteran of the United States Secret Service, and Dr. Tara Brennan, who holds a Doctorate of Psychology from LIU Brooklyn.^[20]

Brennan died of natural causes at his home in Munjoy Hill, on April 6, 2024, at the age of 89.^[6][21]