After leading Maine’s effort to overhaul its welfare programs, former Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew is taking aim at the state’s highest office. In morning radio interviews Tuesday, Mayhew declared her intention to seek the Republican nomination for governor in 2018. Mayhew, the most widely known of the handful of contenders […]
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Posted inMaine
Betsy Sweet to run as Democrat for governor
As expected, Hallowell lobbyist Betsy Sweet filed Tuesday to run for governor in 2018, issuing a news release saying she’s “not part of the political establishment” while referencing a lobbying and advocacy career dating back to the 1980s. “I think I’m the sweet spot — if you will — between not experienced and being part […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
Gov. Paul LePage says 'you go into poverty' to serve public
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage makes less than any governor in America, but don’t feel too sorry for him. He said Thursday he pays more in income tax than he earns from his $70,000-a-year salary as the state’s leader. But a spokesman, Peter Steele, said he was referring to his tax bills before he became […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Lawmakers proposes giving the next Maine governor a raise
AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine has the nation’s lowest salary for a governor and a lawmaker says it’s time to boost it. Republican Rep. Bradlee Farrin is sponsoring a bill to raise the governor’s salary from $70,000 to $150,000. The raise would start January 2019, so it wouldn’t apply to Republican Gov. Paul LePage. The bill […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Digital clues point to Garrett Mason, Mary Mayhew running for governor
AUGUSTA — A recently reserved website domain name hints that Maine Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew could be moving closer to a run for governor in 2018. Nobody has formally declared a run to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Paul LePage. But Mayhew was among more than a dozen people who responded […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Analysis: Who looks like they will run for governor of Maine in 2018
AUGUSTA — The behind-the-scenes campaign for the Blaine House in 2018 has begun, with Republicans waiting to see if federal officeholders jump in, Democrats looking early at a potential insider-outsider race and independents mulling bids. It’s a race that could reshape Maine, with the term-limited Paul LePage leaving the governorship in 2019, eight years after […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
LePage paid less than every other governor
AUGUSTA — It’s not clear whether Gov. Paul LePage will try again to give his successor in the state’s top job a pay raise. Because Maine hasn’t increased the governor’s $70,000-a-year salary since 1987, the governor now earns substantially less than any of his peers around the country. That may not matter to lawmakers skeptical […]
Posted inMaine
Gov. Paul LePage apologizes for abruptly leaving UMF ceremony
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage apologized Wednesday to the president and the former president of the University of Maine at Farmington for abruptly leaving a dedication ceremony and calling two students “idiots.” Reacting to signs held by student protesters Nick Bray and Ally Hammond, LePage cut short his speech during a ceremony to rename a […]
Posted inMaine
Committee splits on pay increase for Maine governors
AUGUSTA — Proposals by Republican Gov. Paul LePage to hike the salary of the next governor to $150,000 a year, increase pay for lawmakers and reduce members of the Legislature appeared poised for defeat Thursday. Lawmakers on the Legislature’s State and Local Government Committee split along party lines in a 5-5 vote after unanimously voting […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Gov. Paul LePage turns awards lunch into political speech
NEWRY — Gov. Paul LePage used a state tourism conference’s typically light-and-happy awards ceremony as a political platform Tuesday, calling for everyone in the room to pass the word that current ballot initiatives — including raising the minimum wage — will have a catastrophic effect on the state. “(Tourism is) a great industry; it’s a […]