PORTLAND, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage will hold a town hall meeting on Wednesday in Westbrook, the city represented in the Maine House of Representatives by the Democratic lawmaker that the governor targeted last week with an obscene voicemail, leading to his biggest controversy yet.
LePage will use the event to “deliver remarks about moving Maine forward and answer questions from residents,” according to a news release issued Monday morning.
But the timing of the event, days after the governor said he would like to engage in a gun duel with Rep. Drew Gattine, has some local politicians saying that the town hall is merely a continuation of LePage’s attack on the legislator.
“I would like to take it as a sign of the governor is trying to move Maine forward, but sadly what I think anyone would take it as is just another way for him to pick a fight,” said Brendan Rielly, president of Westbrook’s City Council.
LePage last week left a voicemail for Gattine, calling him a “little son-of-a-bitch, socialist c—ksucker,” after the lawmaker criticized LePage’s earlier comments about black and Hispanic drug dealers. LePage later told the Portland Press Herald that he’d like to have a duel with Gattine and point his gun “right between” Gattine’s eyes.
On Friday, the governor said the reference to a duel was “simply a metaphor.” He also apologized to the “people of Maine” for using the obscenity but made a point of not apologizing to Gattine.
Those events led Rielly, and two other Westbrook city leaders, to issue a statement on Friday that criticized the governor, calling his tirade “insanity.” Likewise, Democratic lawmakers demanded LePage’s resignation last week, saying that he is “unfit” to fulfill the duties of his office. And on Monday afternoon, Republican Senate President Mike Thibodeau called for the governor to take “corrective action.”
“It’s unbelievable that the governor plans to hold a town hall in Westbrook on the heels of his threats toward Rep. Drew Gattine,” said Democratic House Majority Leader Jeff McCabe. “This erratic behavior is why we and many Republicans do not have faith in his ability to hold his office.”
Neither a representative for Lepage nor Gattine responded to requests for comment Monday.
The town hall will run from 6 to 7 p.m. at My Place Teen Center, 755 Main St. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.