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Republican Maine Governor Paul LePage officially endorsed Donald Trump for president Friday. ... "He's the only candidate who's showing a vision for the future," he said. "He's a businessman. I'm a businessman… I think he could be one of the greatest presidents if he sits down and puts together a good team."

Bangor Daily News ‏@bangordailynews 1h1 hour ago BREAKING: LePage, Christie endorse @realDonaldTrump for president http://bdn.to/xzxr #mepolitics Michael Shepherd ‏@mikeshepherdME 2h2 hours ago LePage calls Rubio and Cruz "two of the people who create the gridlock" in Washington. #mepolitics 23 retweets 14 likes

Maine governor LePage joins Christie in endorsing Trump – campaign live

Hours after New Jersey governor and former Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie endorsed frontrunner Donald Trump's campaign for the White House, Maine's governor, Paul LePage, has thrown his support behind the real estate tycoon... "The one thing I like about Donald Trump, I'm not gonna say I agree with everything he's saying... he's showing a vision for the future," LePage said. "He wants to make America great again, and he's the only person doing that right now."

Maine Gov. Paul LePage has endorsed Donald Trump, becoming the second Republican governor on Friday to back the GOP presidential candidate.

There has been some confusion about statements made by Ben Jealous, former president and CEO of the NAACP, on his February 10 appearance on The Rachel Maddow Show. Here is the video clip and text transcript of that night's appearance. MADDOW: In the Democratic presidential field, as the two Democratic candidates are about to leave states where the electorate was 91 percent and 93 percent white respectively, they're headed into much more diverse states. The Democratic candidates now are fighting tooth and nail not only to try to appeal to minority voters and specifically to African-American Democratic voters, they are...

The next stops for Kasich are the primaries in New England. Vermont and Massachusetts, whose media markets at points overlap with New Hampshire, where Kasich practically lived for the past several months, both hold primaries on March 1. The Maine primary follows on March 5. Those around Kasich believe he can capitalize on his investment in New Hampshire with voters in those surrounding states. Kasich is scheduled to spend the day of the South Carolina primary in Massachusetts ... Still, Kasich’s biggest target other than his native Ohio remains Michigan, which will hold its primary on March 8. Kasich’s advisers...

Maine election officials have cleared a firearm background check proposal for the November ballot. Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said Thursday that the referendum supporters obtained 65,821 valid signatures, exceeding the minimum threshold by more than 4,500. The proposal would require a background check before a firearm sale or transfer between individuals. The parties would be required to meet at a licensed firearm dealer, who would conduct a background check on the gun recipient and complete the sale. There are exceptions, including transfers between family members. The proposal will go to voters unless Maine lawmakers approve it.

Waterville police chief Joe Massey says the assault and rape of a 73-year-old city woman on Sunday makes a good case for why citizens should arm themselves as a defense against crime. "It's one of those cases where you could make a good argument for citizens arming themselves," Massey said Thursday. Someone said, 'A gun in hand is better than someone on the phone telling you police are on their way.' In cases like this, you wish the homeowner had a weapon and was capable of defending themselves.

It’s a case of miracles and wonders up in the Pine Tree State, folks. A report from Rachel Sheffield and Robert Rector at the Daily Signal takes a look at welfare programs and efforts to reform them, particularly in the area of food stamps. They note that one of the fastest growing segments of welfare programs over the last decade has been applications for food stamps by ABAWDs, or able bodied adults without children between the ages of 18 and 49. These are folks who are determined to be otherwise able to work but without a source of income....

One trillion dollars—that’s how much the government spent last year on means-tested welfare aid, providing cash, food, housing, medical care, and social services to poor and low-income individuals. The food stamp program is the nation’s second largest welfare program. The number of food stamp recipients has risen dramatically, from 17.2 million in 2000 to 45.8 million in 2015. Costs have soared over the same period, from $20.7 billion in 2000 to $83.1 billion in 2014. The most rapid growth in the food stamp caseload in recent years has been among able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs). These are work-capable adult recipients...

Christie's ground game doesn't match his aggressive debate style. His volunteer effort it rather tame. The NJ crowd didn't make the 4-hour drive north to New Hampshire.

Good morning from Augusta, where a large group of Republican legislators and activists is set to endorse presidential hopeful Ted Cruz on Thursday. Between 40 and 50 legislators will hold a noon news conference at the State House to announce support for the Texas senator, who won the Iowa caucuses on Monday, finishing ahead of runner-up Donald Trump and the third-place Marco Rubio...

Maine State Police took to Facebook on Friday, saying a trooper is being falsely accused of racial profiling.

AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage said he has made it a point to attend the Maine Right to Life’s Hands Around the Capitol rally every year because of children. “They are the future and we have to have more children and a better future for our society,” LePage said. “Right now, more people are dying than being born, so it’s time to have an opportunity to keep them alive. We should not have abortion.” LePage, who received two standing ovations, was among a handful of speakers Saturday afternoon to a crowd gathered at St. Michael School gymnasium in Augusta to...

Singer Don McLean was arrested on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge Monday in Maine. Camden's Chief Randy Gagne told FOX411 police responded to a call at McLean's Camden, Maine residence early Monday morning and arrested the singer without incident. He was transported to Knox County Jail in Rockland, Maine, and was later released after on bail. He has a court date set for February 22, 2016. ...

Critics of Maine Gov. Paul LePage failed to muster enough support to require a vote Thursday on an independent investigation that could have led to impeachment for alleged abuse of power. Instead, House lawmakers voted 96-52 to indefinitely postpone debate after Republican leader Ken Fredette introduced a motion to pre-empt any action on the impeachment order. A group led by Democratic Rep. Ben Chipman of Portland wanted to punish the brash and outspoken Republican governor for pressuring a school operator into rescinding a job offer to Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves. ...

Mom Becca Edwards is "pissed" about a racist remark that her state's governor made, and she's calling him out on it, offering her own biracial family as an example of how very wrong he is. Maine Gov. Paul LePage issued his offensive comment at a town hall meeting in Bridgton on Jan. 6 while speaking about the influx of heroin in the Pine Tree State. "These are guys with the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty -- these types of guys -- they come from Connecticut and New York, they come up here, they sell their heroin, they go back home," the...

Not sure about the press herald's policy for copywrite, so I'll just sum up here- Democrats in Maine are going after Gov Paul Lepage for 8 charges- mostly to do with what they call "abuse of power"- and for his comment a bit ago that out of state drug dealers were impregnating "Young White Girls" in Maine. The are calling for a special house committee to investigate "allegations of misfeasance, malfeasance, nonfeasance and other misconduct"

A long-time math teacher at Bangor High School said on her Facebook page that she was ordered by the principal on Friday to remove a small Christmas tree from her classroom. Catherine Gordon said in a post timestamped Dec. 18 at 9:17 p.m. that the "tree had no religious symbols on it whatsoever. No crosses or angels, just pink Hello Kitties and my students really enjoyed it and it cheered me up during the day." Gordon said in the post that she has been decorating her classroom for the holidays for 30 years. Bangor School Superintendent Betsy Webb issued the...