AUGUSTA — Republican Gov. Paul LePage met with leaders of the recently elected Democratic majority in the Legislature for an hour Monday.

It was the first meeting between the state’s chief executive and the lawmakers since Democrats recaptured majorities in the House and Senate in November elections.

Also at the meeting were Republican minority leaders from the Senate and House, according to Ericka Dodge, communications director for the Maine Senate Democrats.

Dodge said LePage held an unannounced meeting with Senate President Sen. Justin Alfond, D-Portland; House Speaker Rep. Mark Eves, D-North Berwick; House Minority Leader Rep. Ken Fredette, R-Newport; and Senate Minority Leader Sen. Michael Thibodeau, R-Winterport.

Dodge said she was notified of the meeting after it was over and that Alfond seemed happy with the tone and topics.

Adrienne Bennett, LePage’s press secretary, confirmed the meeting. Bennett said the meeting was “a pleasant conversation” but offered no other details, saying she wasn’t there either. She said she knew the meeting was taking place but didn’t announce it, noting the governor has many meetings every week.

“I understand where the media is coming from on this but it was a meeting,” Bennett said. “It was a pleasant conversation.”

LePage called off an earlier meeting after complaining that the Maine Democratic Party had employed a videographer to attend and record all his public events. LePage demanded the Democrats call off the video “tracker,” saying he would meet with Democrats when they did so.

But there was no indication the Democratic Party recalled its tracker Monday. Bennett said she had no reason to believe the tracker was discussed at all Monday.

Dodge said she didn’t get a sense from speaking with Alfond that there were a lot of specifics discussed. She said the men did discuss workforce development, education and the state’s budget.

Dodge said she didn’t believe either party had any other staff at the meeting and it was largely contained to just the governor and the respective leadership lawmakers.

“I don’t believe they talked about anything too specific, there was nothing nitty-gritty,” Dodge said. “It was productive and went well. It bodes well, was much anticipated.” She said after the meeting Alfond was in a “good mood and positive about the meeting.”

Early Monday evening Fredette called the meeting, “cordial.”

“It was a good first meeting,” Fredette said via cellphone. He said he didn’t think the specific details of the conversation needed to be disclosed. “The conversation should not be fodder for the media,” he said. “It was a positive step forward and now we can push forward with the important work we have to do.”

Fredette said he believes the meeting Monday would hopefully set the tone for future discussions.

“I think this first meeting was an important step in building a dialogue between the executive and legislative branches,” Fredette said.

He said he suspected there would be additional meetings in the future but neither Dodge nor Bennett could say when those may be.

Monday’s meeting came one day before LePage will deliver his State of the State address in Augusta. Bennett said LePage will touch on all the priorities his administration has been focused on including lowering energy prices, job creation, domestic violence prevention, lowering state taxes and paying off the state’s debt to its hospitals.  

“He’ll speak about the condition of the state, Maine families and about how we can do better for Maine,” Bennett said.