Free Republic

In this July 27, 2022, file photo, Gov. Janet Mills speaks during an abortion rights rally at Lincoln Park in Portland. Credit: David Marino Jr. / BDN The state’s largest abortion rights advocacy group has spent a likely record amount of money on candidate races this year in the wake of the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England’s political action committee in Maine has spent $836,059 this year in independent expenditures, a category of campaign spending that allows groups to show support or opposition to candidates, according to Maine campaign finance records....

When then-Maine Gov. Paul LePage endorsed Donald Trump in 2016, he credited himself as a prototype for the insurgent presidential candidate. “I was Donald Trump before Donald Trump became popular, so I think I should support him since we are one of the same cloth,” said LePage, whose two terms in office were punctuated by brash behavior and frequently offensive comments. Now, as LePage is running for a third term after a brief retirement to Florida, he rarely talks about Trump in public, and his advisers say LePage’s hiatus from politics changed him. He’s eager to show he’s smoothed over...

Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) on Tuesday called for the Mills administration and state legislature to cut Maine’s fuel tax in response to gasoline prices reaching record highs across the nation. LePage, who is challenging Gov. Janet Mills (D) in the state’s gubernatorial race this year, spoke about the tax at a press conference in the town of Falmouth on the same day Mills formally announced her bid for reelection.

A recent SurveyUSA poll shows Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) could find trouble heading into the Democrat primary for her reelection as the 2022 midterms approach. The poll found that Maine’s Senate president, State Sen. Troy Jackson (D), has a strong standing in the hypothetical poll going head-to-head against Mills next June in the primary:

<p>The former Maine governor lands a summer job at a restaurant in Boothbay Harbor.</p> <p>BOOTHBAY HARBOR — Former Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s wife won’t be the only one in their family spending the summer working at a restaurant. LePage will be joining her as a bartender.</p>

Conservative critics target Portland and its support of asylum seekers Portland's mayor and city councilors fire back after a Fox Broadcasting Co. talk show host says the city has itself to blame for a surge in immigrants who need shelter. BY RANDY BILLINGS STAFF WRITER Portland Press Herald Friday, February 1, 2019 Portland may be more than 2,000 miles from the southern U.S. border, but the city found itself in the middle of national immigration debate this week. Conservative commentators such as Fox Broadcasting Co.’s Laura Ingraham and Stuart Varney seized on a story published Jan. 27 by the Wall...

Gov. LePage hospitalized in Bangor After feeling some 'discomfort', he went to a hospital in New Brunswick, then to Presque Isle and finally EMMC. Gov. Paul LePage was taken by ambulance to a Bangor hospital after experiencing discomfort Saturday while visiting family in New Brunswick. LePage arrived at Eastern Maine Medical Center at 11:30 p.m. Saturday night, according to a news release from his office. He was held overnight and “resting comfortably,” Sunday afternoon. “Doctors said he is very strong and healthy,” said the release. No details were given about the nature of his discomfort. LePage first went to a...

Portaland Press Herald Thursday, March 29, 2018 Judge cites LePage’s stay at Trump hotel in ruling that lawsuit against president can proceed He also points to the governor's subsequent visit with the president in finding that Maryland and the District of Columbia have standing to claim that Trump is violating the Constitution by mixing business interests with his work as president. BY SCOTT THISTLE, STAFF WRITER A stay by Gov. Paul LePage at the Trump International Hotel in Washington in early 2017 is playing a key role in a federal lawsuit against the president by the state of Maryland and...

On Tuesday, Maine became the 32nd state to approve Medicaid expansion and the first to do so via referendum. But Republican Gov. Paul LePage is pushing back. In a statement released the day after the vote, the governor referenced costs associated with the initiative, saying taxpayers would be on the hook for "hundreds of millions of dollars." "The last time Maine experimented with Medicaid expansion in 2002 under then-Gov. Angus King, it created a $750 million debt to hospitals, resulted in massive budget shortfalls every year, did not reduce emergency room use, did not reduce the number of uninsured Mainers...

Backers of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins say they wish they could clone the moderate Republican powerbroker from Maine who has been a crucial swing vote in Congress as Republicans struggle to deliver on President Donald Trump's legislative agenda. Collins says she will decide during the Senate's weeklong Columbus Day recess whether to stay in the Senate, where she has served for four terms, or again run for governor in Maine. The Associated Press interviewed 10 of Collins' current and former colleagues and staffers, along with Maine political observers. They said the senator is carefully weighing whether she can have more...

AUGUSTA (WGME) -- Gov. Paul LePage said Monday that he may remove two Maine sheriffs for not cooperating with federal immigration officials — an apparent shot at one sheriff who announced last week that he wouldn’t hold federal inmates past their release dates. The Republican governor told conservative radio host Laura Ingraham that he would be issuing an executive order soon because Maine has “a couple of sheriffs who say they’re not going to work” with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. “So, there’s likelihood that you’re going to be hearing some stories about some sheriffs being removed from their...

AUGUSTA, Maine - Maine's governor pardoned a dog set to be euthanized after killing a smaller dog. But a judge has ordered the dog still be euthanized, saying the governor doesn't have the power to pardon a dog. The 4-year-old husky-mix lived in Winslow with Matthew Perry. Last spring she got out and killed a neighbor's small dog. A judge ordered Perry to keep Dakota fenced in, on a leash and muzzled when out for walks. Authorities say he violated that order. Dakota got out again and attacked the same family's "new" dog, biting it in the neck. Republican Gov....

Democratic U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights leader who says he doesn't see Donald Trump as a "legitimate president," should be grateful for all that Republican presidents have done for black people, GOP Gov. Paul LePage said Tuesday. LePage, who's white, said on WVOM-FM that the black Democratic Georgia congressman needs a history lesson. "We're sick of the silver-tongued people. How about John Lewis last week? Criticizing the president?" LePage said. "You know, I will just say this: John Lewis ought to look at history. It was Abraham Lincoln that freed the slaves. It was Rutherford B. Hayes and...

Republican Maine Gov. Paul LePage says his state is withdrawing from the federal government’s refugee resettlement program. The Portland Press Herald reports LePage sent a letter to Democratic President Barack Obama on Friday citing concerns about the adequacy of vetting of refugees coming from countries such as Syria. …

Republican Maine Gov. Paul LePage says he meant to use the word “authoritative” — not “authoritarian” — when speaking about GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump during a radio interview. […] The governor blamed reporters for making too much of his slip of the tongue when he said the country needs Trump “to show some authoritarian power in our country.” …

Maine Gov. Paul LePage stood by Donald Trump in a radio interview on Tuesday, saying that the United States might need someone like the GOP nominee to show "authoritarian power," and dismissing concerns over an audiotape leaked last week that showed Trump describing how he forces himself upon women. "Sometimes, I wonder that our Constitution is not only broken, but we need a Donald Trump to show some authoritarian power in our country and bring back the rule of law because we've had eight years of a president, he's an autocrat, he just does it on his own, he ignores...

Gov. Paul LePage raised the possibility Tuesday that he may not finish his second term, amid mounting pressure from Democrats and members of his own party to amend for his recent actions. “I’m looking at all options,” the Republican governor said while appearing on WVOM, a Bangor talk radio station. “I think some things I’ve been asked to do are beyond my ability. I’m not going to say that I’m not going to finish it. I’m not saying that I am going to finish it.” He later said, “If I’ve lost my ability to help Maine people, maybe it’s time...

<p>Republican Maine Gov. Paul LePage left an expletive-filled voicemail for a state lawmaker who called his recent comments about drug dealers racist, the Portland Press Herald reports.</p> <p>LePage called the lawmaker a “socialist cocksucker” and later said he would like to have an armed duel.</p>

Washington (CNN)Maine Gov. Paul LePage left an expletive-laced voicemail for a state lawmaker that goaded him to "prove that I'm a racist" after a series of controversial comments once again put the governor in the news. LePage left the message for Democratic State Rep. Drew Gattine on Thursday, according to the Portland Press Herald, which also was the first to obtain audio of the voicemail. The uncensored audio message, also shared with CNN, contains several explicit phrases. The bombastic Republican governor is known for his loose style, which sometimes draws criticism. He is a strong supporter of Donald Trump, and...

Gov. Paul R. LePage of Maine, known for his belligerent style and racial comments has endorsed Donald Trump's bid for the Republican presidential nomination on Friday. "I was Donald Trump before Donald Trump became popular," said LePage, hours after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also backed his former presidential campaign rival. "So I think I should support him because we're one of the same cloth," LePage said on the Howie Carr Show, according to Politico.