Daniel Wathen

Daniel Everett "Dan" Wathen is an American lawyer and politician from Maine. He was Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court from March 1992 until October 2001, when he resigned to run for Governor of Maine as a Republican. He was replaced as chief justice by Leigh Saufley.

At the time of his gubernatorial campaign announcement, many pollsters and academics did not believe Wathen would factor into the 2002 gubernatorial election.

Wathen is a native of Easton in Aroostook County, Maine. He graduated from Ricker College in Houlton and earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Maine School of Law.

As of 2011, Wathen was the board chairman of the Maine Turnpike Authority.

Since 2002, he has served as Of Counsel for Pierce Atwood LLP, a law firm which has an office based in Augusta, Maine.

In April 2013, Governor Paul R. LePage nominated him to serve as co-chair of the Maine Unemployment Investigation Commission.

Following a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, in 2023, committed by a mentally disturbed Army reservist, Governor Janet Mills appointed Wathen to chair a seven-member independent commission to investigate the tragedy. The commission concluded that both police and the Army Reserve missed opportunities to prevent the shooting.