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AUGUSTA (AP) — Sen. Angus King will back fellow independent candidate Eliot Cutler in the three-person race for Maine governor, a person familiar with the plans said on Sunday.

The person told The Associated Press that King will endorse Cutler on Monday. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the endorsement had not yet been made public.

Cutler’s campaign says it will hold two press conferences on Monday, in Portland and Bangor. Attempts to reach a representative from King’s office late Sunday were unsuccessful.

Cutler, a former Democrat who’s seeking to unseat Gov. Paul LePage this November, is in a three-person race for the Blaine House with the incumbent Republican and Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud.

King, who caucuses with Democrats, also endorsed Cutler in 2010, when he lost to LePage by about 10,000 votes.

The independent has been pressing his political opponents for early debates and is hoping for another late surge in the polls this year.

Most pre-election polls have shown LePage and Michaud in a close battle for first place, with Cutler trailing by about 20 percentage points. But Cutler has said that he is confident his campaign will gain momentum as it nears November, like it did in 2010.

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