Maine
Paul LePage may be eyeing another campaign in Maine
Former Gov. Paul LePage during a 2022 gubernatorial debate. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald
After losing a 2022 bid to return to the Blaine House, former Gov. Paul LePage moved out of Maine and returned to a home he owns in Florida.
In March 2023, LePage registered to vote as a Republican in Flagler County and remains on the rolls there.
But the Bangor Daily News reports that despite having his home in Ormond Beach, which his wife purchased in 2018, LePage is eyeing the possibility of running for a U.S. House seat in Maine’s conservative-leaning 2nd District.
The Bangor paper reported that “three Republicans who spoke on conditions of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue said they have heard from those in the former governor’s inner circle that he is seriously considering a run” for the seat held by Democrat Jared Golden, whose own 2026 campaign plans are uncertain.
The 76-year-old LePage, who could not be reached for comment, would be among the oldest first-time members of the House should he both opt to run and emerge victorious. An Illinois congressman elected in 1952 for the first time was slightly older than LePage would be.
LePage served as governor 2011-19, when he had to give up the office because of term limits. His bid to regain the position in 2022 fell well short as incumbent Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, easily defeated him.
During the interim between his time as governor in 2019 and his return to Maine to face Mills in 2022, LePage also moved to Florida, where he voted in the 2020 presidential race.
In 2017, when LePage flirted with a U.S. Senate bid, he admitted during a radio interview that “he wouldn’t make a very good legislator” and expressed concern that the many committee meetings that members of Congress must attend would be too boring for him.
Nobody has yet filed to run in the 2026 congressional race in the 2nd District, but it is widely anticipated that Republican Austin Theriault of Fort Kent will seek a rematch. He lost to Golden by a narrow margin last year.
The Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition says over the past two weeks its immigrant defense hotline has seen an uptick in reported ICE detentions.
They say this corresponds with a national shift in ICE activity, including bids for local businesses to cooperate with ICE.
In Maine, the arrests follow a broader trend of targeting Black and brown immigrants, including people navigating immigration proceedings.
The coalition, which represents more than 100 organizations, says it’s ready to protect civil and human rights and is urging immigrants to prepare themselves and their families.
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They suggest having the defense hotline ready in case you witness ICE activity, making sure you have important personal documents in case of detention, and reviewing rights around judicial warrants in private spaces, like your home or workplace.
It wouldn’t be Mother’s Day without a stop at the florist.
According to Fox Business, about 154 million flowers are sold during the week of Mother’s Day. So it’s safe to say it was a busy day for stores like Estabrook’s Maine Garden Center and Nursery.
Plenty of families stopped by to pick out flowers on Sunday, looking to choose the perfect bouquet for their moms.
“I think Mother’s Day is tradition, you know, and so it’s great to see families here. We have a lot of new families that have come today for the first time with their young children and their mother. Watching the young kids and seeing how excited they are—their eyes light up at all the beautiful flowers,” Tom Estabrook, president of Estabrook’s, said.
Estabrook says Mother’s Day tends to be a great kickoff to the spring season.
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