Paul LePage

Gov. Paul LePage's Mural Fight Could Cost Maine $60,000

Benjy Sarlin | April 5, 2011, 11:06AM

Gov. Paul LePage (R-ME)

Maine Gov. Paul LePage's union busting chops are coming into conflict with his disdain for wasteful spending as the federal government is demanding $60,000 back that it contributed to sponsor a mural he has since removed from the state's Department of Labor building.

LePage, a Republican, took down the mural, which depicted labor history in the state, in response to alleged complaints that it offended the business community. The move drew protests and LePage's combative response drew an additional public rebuke from eight GOP state senators in a widely published op-ed.

But now the federal Department of Labor, which financed the mural with a $60,000 grant, are getting in on the action, writing in a letter that the state will forfeit its money if it fails to use the mural for its intended purpose.

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Paul LePage

Maine GOP Senators To Tea Partying Governor: Tone It Down

Benjy Sarlin | April 4, 2011, 10:45AM

Maine Governor Paul LePage (R)

Maine Gov. Paul LePage is quickly cultivating a combative reputation, feuding with labor groups in recent weeks by removing a mural from the state Department of Labor building that he deemed too pro-union and taunting critics who protested the move. But his aggressive tack is generating a backlash from his own party as a group of eight Republican senators publicly call on him to tone it down.

In an op-ed Monday authored by Maine state Sens. Roger Katz and Brian Langley and co-signed by six other lawmakers, the group wrote that they "feel compelled to express our discomfort and dismay with the tone and spirit of some of the remarks he has made."

"Were these isolated incidents, we would bite our collective tongues, because we are all human and make mistakes," the piece reads. "But, unfortunately, they are not isolated but frequent. Therefore, we feel we must speak out."

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Maine

Maine Gov. LePage Admits 'Timing Was Bad' For Removing Labor Mural

Eric Lach | April 1, 2011, 10:25AM

Maine Governor Paul LePage (R)

In an interview with The Portland Press Herald, Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) admitted that his decision to take down a mural from the Maine Department of Labor building was poorly timed, saying it should have been done "later on."

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Paul LePage

LePage's Office: People Complained Labor Mural Resembled "North Korea"

Benjy Sarlin | March 23, 2011, 3:06PM

Defending his decision to take down a mural at the Department of Labor building and change the name of conference rooms considered too pro-labor, a spokeswoman for Gov. Paul LePage released a faxed complaint comparing the art to North Korean propaganda.

"In this mural I observed a figure which closely resembles the former commissioner of labor," an anonymous fax given to the Portland Press Herald reads. "In studying the mural I also observed that this mural is nothing but propaganda to further the agenda of the Union movement. I felt for a moment that I was in communist North Korea where they use these murals to brainwash the masses."

A spokeswoman for the governor, Adrienne Bennett, told TPM that while she didn't want to "give validity" to the specific sentiments in the fax, it was one of numerous complaints brought up by senior policy staff when the LePage administration took over the department.

"The message we want to send is 'We're here for you,' for job creators and employees," she said. "The decorum needs to represent neutrality."

Democrats and labor organizers slammed the decision on Wednesday, labeling it a cheap and unnecessary poke at unions.

"I think its horrible," Don Berry, head of the Maine AFL-CIO, told TPM. "It's Hollywood LePage. Right or wrong, he likes being in the spotlight."

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Paul LePage

Maine Governor Orders Mural Depicting Labor History Removed From Labor Department

Benjy Sarlin | March 23, 2011, 12:18PM

Gov. Paul LePage (R-ME)

It's Diego Rivera Redux in Maine, as Governor Paul LePage is taking down a mural in the state Department of Labor building depicting the history of the labor movement and changing the names of conference rooms that he deems too pro-labor.

The 11-panel installation depicted such figures as Rosie the Riveter and FDR-era Labor Secretary Frances Perkins as well as events like a 1937 shoe mill strike and 1986 paper mill workers' strike. Several rooms are named after historic labor figures including Perkins and Cesar Chavez.

A spokesman for LePage told the Lewiston Sun Journal that business had complained about the piece and "The message from state agencies needs to be balanced." He added that the rooms could instead be named "after mountains, counties or something."

Progressive and labor groups are upset about the change and the artist who painted it, Judy Taylor, told the paper that the mural's message was already fair.

"There was never any intention to be pro-labor or anti-labor," she said. "It was a pure depiction of the facts."

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Paul LePage

Maine Governor LePage Expects Wisconsin-Style Protests (VIDEO)

Eric Lach | February 28, 2011, 11:12AM

Maine Governor Paul LePage (R)

Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) says he expects protesters to come to his state after people start reading his budget. LePage told Politico he thinks Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is facing a "big challenge."

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Paul LePage

LePage Dismisses Dangers Of Chemical BPA: 'Worst Case Is Some Women May Have Little Beards'

Jillian Rayfield | February 23, 2011, 11:27AM

Paul LePage, 2010 gubernatorial candidate in Maine.

Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) has dismissed the dangers of the chemical bisphenol-A, the effects of which are being debated in the state's legislature this session, saying that as far as he can tell, the worst side effect is that "some women may have little beards."

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Olympia Snowe

Meet Olympia Snowe's New Hard Rocking Tea Party Challenger

Benjy Sarlin | February 11, 2011, 12:02PM

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME)

Maine moderate Olympia Snowe, whose Senate seat has long been considered vulnerable in a Republican primary, has a new Tea Party challenger: Andrew Ian Dodge.

The state coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots in Maine, Dodge told TPM he will announce his entrance into the race Friday at a press conference at CPAC. He'll be the second to jump into the GOP primary against Snowe after businessman Scott D'amboise declared his run last year.

You may not recognize Dodge's name, but if you've read news coverage of the Tea Party over the last year you've almost certainly seen him quoted. Dodge's friendly relationship with reporters and off-beat analysis has made him one of the most frequently cited activists in the movement by mainstream reporters.

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Paul LePage

LePage Spox Defends Governor's Referencing Of Black 'Son'

David Taintor | January 20, 2011, 8:40AM

Gov. Paul LePage (R-ME)

Ken Altshuler of WGAN radio in Maine grilled Gov. Paul LePage spokesperson Dan Demerrit on Wednesday over the governor's claim that he has an adopted black son.

It turns out that Devon Raymond Jr. is not technically LePage's adopted son, but he moved in with the LePage family in 2002.

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Paul LePage

Did Maine Gov. LePage Even Speak To NAACP About Visiting Only Black Prisoners?

David Taintor | January 20, 2011, 8:38AM

Maine Governor Paul LePage (R)

Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) apparently never spoke with local NAACP organizers over visiting black prisoners in jail, the Portland Press Herald reports. That conversation had served as the supposed justification for LePage's eventual "kiss my butt" diss to the NAACP.

LePage says the NAACP invited him to meet with black prisoners at a state prison on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, an offer he declined. He said he would only go if he could meet with all prisoners, but that it wasn't acceptable to them. When the NAACP criticized his non-participation, he told them to "kiss my butt."

But Maine NAACP director Rachel Talbot Ross told the Press Herald that the invitation fiasco never even happened.

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Paul LePage

LePage's Referencing Of Black 'Son' Puts Spotlight On Young Jamaican Man

David Taintor | January 18, 2011, 8:46AM

Gov. Paul LePage (R-ME)

Maine Gov. Paul LePage garnered much media attention last week when he responded to the NAACP's criticism of his planned non-participation in certain Martin Luther King Day events with a terse "kiss my butt."

LePage -- who on Monday ended up paying a visit to an MLK Day event after all -- defended his decision last week by saying he has a black son.

"Tell them to kiss my butt. If they want, they can look at my family picture. My son happens to be black, so they can do whatever they'd like about it."

This declaration drew focus onto LePage's relationship with the young man. And as the Portland Press Herald reports, the young man who LePage called his son -- Devon Raymond Jr. -- isn't technically his son. It remains unclear exactly how close the two are, or were -- or what the exact nature of their relationship is.

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Paul LePage

LePage Attends MLK Day Event Despite 'Kiss My Butt' Remark

Jillian Rayfield | January 17, 2011, 11:38AM

Gov. Paul LePage (R-ME)

Maine Gov. Paul LePage made a surprise visit to a Martin Luther King Day event today despite his earlier refusal to attend an event hosted by the NAACP and his assertion that they can "kiss my butt."

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Maine

Maine Gov. LePage: NAACP Can 'Kiss My Butt'

Jillian Rayfield | January 14, 2011, 2:15PM

Gov. Paul LePage (R-ME)

Maine Gov. Paul LePage said that the NAACP can "kiss my butt" for criticizing his non-participation in Martin Luther King Day events.

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Paul LePage

Tea Partying Maine Gov-Elect Scrambles To Explain His Constitution Goof

David Taintor | December 7, 2010, 2:17PM

Paul LePage, 2010 gubernatorial candidate in Maine.

Gov.-elect Paul LePage (R-ME) on Monday tried to walk back his claim that if 35 states join a lawsuit against the federal government, the health care law "dies automatically."

It turns out it's not quite that simple. No such provision exists in the Constitution. So LePage's spokesman Dan Demeritt explained what he really meant to say.

As the Portland Press Herald reports

"His intent was to discuss the concept of broad-based political opposition, rather than a nonexistent statutory or constitutional trigger."

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ME-GOV

Maine Gov.-Elect Under Fire For Hiring 'Extremist' Tea Partier

Jillian Rayfield | November 29, 2010, 8:39AM

Paul LePage and Tea Partier Pete Harring

Maine Gov.-Elect Paul LePage (R) hasn't even taken office yet, but he's already ruffling some feathers with his staffing choices.

LePage, a conservative Republican, has been taken heat for appointing Pete Harring to his transition advisory team. Harring, also known as Pete The Carpenter, is a leader of the Tea Party groups the Maine Refounders and Paint Maine Red, and is known for posting on Paint Maine Red that "liberals are like slinkys and that's because they bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs."

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Tea Party

Short Fuse: Which Tea Partier Will Be First To Cross The Line And Knock Someone Out?

Evan McMorris-Santoro | October 6, 2010, 8:50AM

So: which tea party candidate is going to lose it and actually knock someone out before Election Day? With so many potentially dangerous hotheads (or at least candidates who appear to be interested in coming off that way) running for office on the conservative side of the Republican ballot line, this is a very important question for campaign volunteers, political opponents and anyone else who may find themselves in close proximity to some of these folks.

From New York to Alabama, this year has produced some of the gun-totin'est, threat-makingest, just-plain-wired-to-blowingest crop of potential members of Congress and governors in a long time. And most if not all of the of the ticking time bombs come from the tea party crop. So strap on your black belt, grab your pepper spray, dial 9-1 (be prepared to press the final "1" when necessary) and let's meet the Most Dangerous Men In Tea Partydom.

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ME-GOV

Maine Gub Candidate Storms Out Of Presser Over Property Tax Q's (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | September 13, 2010, 6:32PM

Paul LePage, 2010 gubernatorial candidate in Maine.

Paul LePage, the conservative Republican candidate for governor in Maine, stormed out of a press conference today after a reporter peppered him with questions about his property taxes and residency.

The Portland Press-Herald reported on Friday that LePage's wife, listed as the sole owner of the couple's homes, improperly claimed an exemption on the property taxes on both their Maine home and Florida home. The exemption, called the homestead exemption, may only be used on one's single, primary residence.

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