LePage Wins Maine Primary Without Appearing on Ballot

Field of LePage Impersonators Doomed in November

Paul LePage may not be on the ballot today in Maine, but the current Governor has already handily won the Republican primary while also setting his party up for a bruising defeat in November.
Despite Governor LePage’s toxic -9 net approval rating, all four Republican contenders for Governor have been tripping over themselves to see who can tether themself most closely to the outgoing governor.
But don’t take our word for it:

• “They all seek to represent themselves as LePage’s heir,” – University of Maine political science professor James Melcher
• “Republican Candidates Compete to Out-LePage Each Other” – Free Press
• “All four Republican candidates rightly might be called the ghosts of Paul LePage” – Mount Desert Islander

And the candidates themselves admit it too:

• Shawn Moody’s closing campaign ad features the Governor’s wife and touts her endorsement.
• Garrett Mason said “The next four to eight years will give us the opportunity to press the gas pedal on Gov. LePage’s accomplishments.”
• Mary Mayhew “said she was proud of the work she and LePage did…and said she intends to make sure those priorities remained firmly in place.”
• Ken Fredette “said his run for governor is based on a theme of ‘Stay The Course,’ meaning follow the economic policies championed for seven years by his party and Gov. Paul LePage.”

“In a truly incredible feat, Governor LePage has managed to simultaneously win Maine’s Republican primary while losing the general election—without even appearing on the ballot,” said DGA Press Secretary Melissa Miller. “Every Republican running for Governor hitched their wagon to a toxic extremist who has spent eight years hurting Maine families and businesses. Voters are ready for a change—a change none of these LePage clones on the ballot today can deliver.”