Former Gov. Paul LePage, expected to replace centrist Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden in Washington in January, is pitching himself as a dealmaker as the lone Republican delegation member after his party was trounced in the midterm elections last week.
The Bangor Daily News and its election results partner Decision Desk HQ have not called the race in the 2nd Congressional District, which President Donald Trump won by 9 points in 2024. But LePage has declared victory, and State Auditor Matt Dunlap conceded last week as the race headed to a ranked-choice count in Augusta that began Monday.
The bombastic former governor branded himself as “Donald Trump before Donald Trump became popular” when he endorsed Trump in 2016. But in his first post-election interview, he criticized Trump’s trade war with Canada and cast himself as a bridge between Republicans, the White House and the newly empowered Democratic majority.
LePage joined incoming members of Congress, including Democratic Sen.-elect Troy Jackson, for orientation in Washington on Monday. He also met and posed for photos with Golden in his Capitol Hill office that afternoon.
“We cannot have two sides not talking to each other,” he told Fox News on Sunday, citing Abraham Lincoln’s “house divided” speech. “We have to find common ground. The government has to work for us.”
That will be a test for a 78-year-old freshman who has feuded with every member of the delegation he is joining. In 2016, LePage said independent U.S. Sen. Angus King “ripped us off” through wind energy investments. That was almost three years after he said Jackson, then a state senator from Aroostook County, gave it to the people “without providing Vaseline.”
And in 2012, he accused U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat from the 1st District, of joining “the jet-setting Washington culture” for opposing his Medicaid cuts. Pingree said during LePage’s failed 2022 race against Gov. Janet Mills that Maine would become “Alabama tomorrow” on abortion if LePage won.
But Republicans who served with LePage in Augusta say he is up to the challenge.
“He had to work with Democrats when he was governor,” state Rep. Ken Fredette, R-Newport, whom House Republicans elected as their leader late last week, said. “If there was one message in this election, it’s that voters want their government to be more functional and people working together. I think a Congressman LePage will look to do the same thing.”
Fredette said that while LePage was known for ruffling feathers as governor, he knows how to work as a minority member and understands that voters aren’t interested in settling political scores. LePage, who has largely backed Trump policies but critiqued the administration at times on tariffs and immigration enforcement, could play a crucial role in getting conversations rolling between the White House and the federal delegation, Fredette said.
Along with working across the aisle, LePage said his two early priorities will be addressing the cost of living and Trump administration tariffs, particularly on Canadian goods. Echoing outgoing Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who helped broker tariff exceptions on a number of goods with administration and Canadian trade leaders.
LePage, who was seen as a conduit for Canadian politicians upset with Trump’s first-term tariffs, said he has been pushing contacts to talk to Prime Minister Mark Carney and hopes to open a dialogue with Trump to get both sides back to the negotiating table as soon as possible.
“It’s crucial we get back to work,” he said.