State Auditor Matt Dunlap’s 2nd Congressional District campaign is hammering Republican Paul LePage over the former governor’s age in a stark departure from more subtle attacks seen in recent races with generational divides.
On Wednesday, Dunlap’s campaign manager Harry Burke responded to a former LePage aide’s criticism over turnout at a Dunlap event by calling the 77-year-old candidate an “old man” who “isn’t capable of standing for that long in front of people clearly” in a post on X.
The sharp words over age come as Democrats, looking to retake the House and hold the seat being vacated by moderate U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, question whether LePage is just a bridge candidate that could help bolster President Donald Trump’s agenda during his final two years in the White House.
But the dust up is more open and bitter than recent races where age was a factor, such as Graham Platner’s U.S. Senate primary battle with 78-year-old Gov. Janet Mills and his truncated general election run against five-term U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, who is 73.
When asked about the criticism over age, Dunlap’s campaign doubled down Thursday. On top of criticizing LePage’s use of line-item veto power to cut Meals on Wheels funding in 2015, Dunlap adviser Matt Herdman noted the former governor would be the oldest freshman ever elected to the House in a general election.
“Voters are right to be concerned about someone’s capacity to serve at the age of 80, and it’s not surprising that more and more people are asking LePage about this,” he said.
The line of attack, which LePage’s team says isn’t new, comes after he wouldn’t commit to a term limit at an Auburn event this week with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, saying it would come down to “health and sanity.” Mainers on both sides of the aisle said LePage hasn’t shown signs that age have affected his ability to serve, but Democrats argue he’s unlikely to serve enough terms to build seniority and make an impact.
“Age is just a number,” former U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud of the 2nd District, a Democrat who lost to LePage in the 2014 governor’s race, said. “But I think Matt Dunlap would make a better member of Congress. He gets out in the district and he’s young enough that he could run several more terms. Seniority matters.”
Multiple Republicans, however, characterized the attacks as a sign of weakness from Dunlap, 61, who’s widely seen as an underdog in the conservative-leaning district but was recently added to the Democratic House campaign arm’s list of priority candidates.
David Jones, who ran an unsuccessful Republican primary bid for governor, said that at 70 he still acts like he’s 50 and “Paul’s the same way: aggressive, self-motivated and focused.” He cited LePage’s executive experience as a bigger factor for voters, saying the former governor had never “demonstrated any inability to communicate.”
“It just shows how baseless [Dunlap’s] argument is,” he said. “Stick to the issues.”
Longtime LePage strategist Brent Littlefield refused to respond to the Dunlap campaign’s “silliness.” He said it’s also worth asking whether voters consider that Dunlap failed a pair of auditing tests that forced him to step down in 2021 before passing and being re-appointed to the role the following year.
Lance Dutson, a Republican strategist who has worked for Collins but has long been critical of LePage, said there’s an “intellectually honest discussion to be had” on the “gauntlet” freshmen members face with travel and the grind for seniority that is in doubt with LePage. But he also doubted it would be a deciding factor.
“The Dunlap people would be wiser to look at his actual record versus things he can’t control like his age,” he said.