AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A fall gubernatorial race is shaping up in Maine that pits a Democratic insider against a conservative Republican, and that could open up the middle for an independent.

Paul LePage scored a stunning win with tea party support in the seven-way GOP race, and Libby Mitchell beat three rivals to win the Democratic nomination. Both parties are now urging their members to unite behind the two nominees.

But one of the three nonparty candidates, Eliot Cutler, says the Democrats and Republicans have reverted to their old ideological habits at a time voters don’t care about party labels. Cutler says he’s the alternative for them.

Others say not so fast. University of Maine political science associate Professor Amy Fried says Cutler lacks the name recognition Angus King enjoyed. Others say Cutler himself faces a challenge by other independents.