Owen McCarthy grew up in a trailer on his grandfather’s land in Patten, Maine, the son of a logger and a school lunch worker. He became the first in his family to finish college, co-founded the Maine health-tech company MedRhythms, and this spring ran fifth of seven candidates in the 2026 Republican primary for governor.
Owen McCarthy sat down with me in-studio for a post-primary look at why he ran, what building a company in Maine taught him about the state’s business climate, and the specifics of his Maine 2040 plan.
In this episode:
- How MedRhythms uses foot-worn sensors and real music to help stroke and Parkinson’s patients relearn how to walk
- Why McCarthy moved the company from Boston to Maine, and what he says is the hardest part of building a health care company here
- McCarthy’s case for why young Mainers leave the state, and where Maine ranks for new business formation
- The campaign-trail issue McCarthy says he heard about most: electricity costs
- Maine’s record education spending alongside record-low reading scores
- The “smart bets” in McCarthy’s Maine 2040 plan, from maritime innovation to a state crypto framework
- This year’s AI data center fight in Augusta, and what McCarthy says it signaled to investors
- A constituent’s anger over the Gateway Community Services MaineCare fraud case
- McCarthy’s case for provider-to-provider telehealth and why he says “coverage is not the same as access”
- What McCarthy learned about Maine, and himself, in the 2026 primary
About the guest: Owen McCarthy of Gorham, Maine, is co-founder of MedRhythms, a Maine digital therapeutics company. He grew up in Patten, Maine, was the first in his family to finish college, and holds an engineering degree from the University of Maine and an MBA from Harvard. He served as a University of Maine System trustee and on the American Telemedicine Association board, and was one of seven candidates who ran in the 2026 Republican gubernatorial primary
