Paul LePage

Paul LePage
Governor of Maine
Incumbent
In office
January 5, 2011 - Present
Term ends
January 2015
Years in position	2
Party	Republican
Predecessor	John Baldacci
Compensation
Base salary	$70,000
Elections and appointments
Last election	November 2, 2010
First elected	November 2, 2010
Next election	November 4, 2014
Term limits	N/A
Prior offices
Mayor of Waterville
1996-2011
Education
Bachelor's	Husson College
Master's	University of Maine
Personal
Birthday	October 9, 1948
Place of birth	Lewiston, Maine
Profession	Business manager
Websites
Office website

Paul LePage (b. October 9, 1948 in Lewiston, Maine) is the current Republican Governor of Maine. He was first elected in 2010, and assumed office January 5, 2011. Prior to his election as governor, LePage served as Mayor of Waterville.

LePage will seek re-election as governor in the 2014 elections.

Biography

Paul LePage put himself not only through college but through high school as well. He spent his early childhood in Lewiston as one of 18 children in an impoverished, French speaking family. At 11, he left home and spent the next two years homeless, where he supported himself shining shoes. By 13, he had found two families who he describes as having quasi-adopted him. Between washing dishes at Theriault’s Cafe and moving boxes for Bruce and Joan Lyrick, Paul was able to finish high school.

In college at Husson, he worked as a short order cook and meat packer. He also served as editor for Husson's student newspaper.

LePage earned his MBA from the University of Maine.

Since 1996, he has been general manager of Marden's Surplus and Salvage, Maine's largest retail chain. He laso heads his own consulting firm, LePage and Kasevich.

Mayor of heavily Democratic Waterville, Maine since 2003, Paul served two terms on the city council before winning the mayoral election. Paul lives in Waterville with his wife, Ann, and their children; Paul, Lauren, and Devon.

Education

• B.S. in finance and accounting - Husson College
• M.B.A. - University of Maine

Political career

Maine Governor (2011-Present)

Paul LePage was sworn in as Maine's 74th governor on January 5, 2011. He first won election on November 2, 2010.

Drops NGA membership

In September 2012, LePage withdrew the state's membership from the National Governors Association, saying Maine was not receiving sufficient benefits for it's yearly membership fee of $60,000. “I get no value out of those meetings. They are too politically correct and everybody is lovey-dovey and no decisions are ever made. There are some tough decisions that need to be made in this country and we need to start making them,” LePage said.

According to Jodi Omear, director of communications for the NGA, all governors are considered members even if they do not pay dues. It is unclear which other states, if any, have stopped paying dues, but Omear said membership fees vary from $22,000 to approximately $176,000 a year.

Democratic tracker criticism

LePage caused a stir at the December 5, 2012 swearing in ceremony of recently elected members of the state legislature by using the time reserved for his routine welcome speech to criticize the Democratic leadership for hiring a someone to record him at public events. In Maine, both the State Senate and State House changed to Democratic in the general election one month prior to the swearing in, and LePage was reportedly having difficulty cooperating with the party leaders in light of the tracker hire. The Republican governor canceled a scheduled introductory meeting with then-newly elected Democratic majority leaders, House Speaker Mark Eves and Senate President Justin Alfond, saying he would temporarily withhold all such interactions as inducement for the party leaders to end the tracking scheme. The following day, LePage used the inaugural ceremony podium to deride and shame the state Democratic Party for hiring a political tracker- one from Massachusetts instead of Maine, no less. “I’m very distinguished. I’ve been honored to have a private paparazzi paid for by the Democratic Party... I think it’s vulgar, I think it’s vicious, and I think it’s vile to me and my family,” he said in his speech before swearing in the new Senate.

Afterward, Republican State Rep. Lance Harvell reflected that while he believed LePage's concerns with the tracker were valid, the ceremony was not the appropriate place or time to discuss unpleasant campaign tactics, and he wondered whether the governor's behavior put off some new members of the Maine Legislature. "If you say you have respect for the institution and the constitution, then you ought to show some,” Harvell said. His mixed response to LePage's remarks were shared by a number of other Republican lawmakers.

Elections

2014

See also: Maine gubernatorial election, 2014

LePage eligible for re-election in 2014 and will likely seek a second term as governor. A report released by Governing in December 2012 named him as one of five governors vulnerable to losing re-election in 2013-2014.

2010

See also: Maine gubernatorial election, 2010 and Gubernatorial elections, 2010

LePage defeated Elizabeth Mitchell (D) in the general election on November 2, 2010.

Governor of Maine, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Paul LePage	37.6%	218,065
	Democratic	Elizabeth Mitchell	18.8%	109,387
	Independent	Eloit R. Cutler	35.9%	208,270
	Independent	Shawn H. Moody	5%	28,756
	Independent	Kevin L. Scott	1%	5,664
	Others	Various	0.5%	2,624
	Blanks	-	1.3%	7,772
Total Votes				580,538
Election Results Via: Maine Secretary of State

Campaign donors

Ballotpedia collects information on campaign donors for each year in which a candidate or incumbent is running for election. The following table offers a breakdown of Paul LePage's donors each year. Click [show] for more information.

Paul LePage's Campaign Contributions
	2010 Governor of Maine
Total Raised	$1,168,537
Total Raised by General Election Opponent	$1,940,152 (Democrat) $2,419,958 (Unenrolled) $551,486 (Independent)
Top 5 contributors	Paul LePage	$247,066
	$20,000	Ann LePage
	Leslie Otten	$7,500
	Gary Hammond	$2,250
	Pembroke Schaeffer	$2,000
Individuals	$662,993
Institutions	$145,882
In-state donations	$1,100,769
Out-of-state donations	$54,263

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term "Paul + LePage + Maine + Governor"

All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.

Paul LePage News Feed

• Maine Governor Paul LePage Falsely Claims Wind Turbine Powered by Electric ... - Opposing Views
• Maine Gov. Paul LePage tours Lewiston fire damage - NECN.com - NECN
• Maine governor still pushing bond for new prison - NECN.com - NECN
• Gov. Paul LePage accuses Maine state employees union of lying about shutdown - Lewiston Sun Journal
• Lawmakers hold emergency meeting to address DHHS funding, shut out LePage - Press Herald
• LePage bill lifts cap on charter schools, lets public money go to religious ... - Bangor Daily News
• Maine governor to union: 'You are lying' - Boston.com
• LePage denies he attempted to pressure unemployment hearing officers - Bangor Daily News
• Maine woman investigating how to lessen domestic violence by war-scarred ... - Bangor Daily News
• Rep. Paul Gilbert: Time to do what is right for Maine families - Lewiston Sun Journal

See also

• Governor of Maine
• News: Gov. LePage appoints state conservation commissioner to Maine Board of Education

External links

• Paul LePage for Governor campaign website
• Project Vote Smart biography
• Paul LePage on Facebook
• Paul LePage on YouTube
• Paul LePage on Twitter

References

Political offices
Preceded by John Baldacci	Governor of Maine 2011 - present	Succeeded by NA