I had forgotten about LePage. Was he one of those few conservatives who could draw democrat voters the way Trump did?
Isn’t the population in Maine along the coastal areas? I do recall Portland, Bangor and Augusta being the bigger cities. Are they reliably democrat areas that can out vote the rest of the state?
If Collins just won reelection at 68 years old I expect this is her last hurrah. Could explain the vote to convict in the impeachment farce.
Regarding Maine Governor Paul LePage....
When he ran the first time, there was an Independent in the race too, who captured some of the democrat votes. So that helped LePage get elected the first time, in 2010. The GOP also won the Maine House (for two years) and the Maine Senate, which went back to being democrat controlled in recent years.
When LePage ran the second time, in 2014, he did better than expected in the Portland area, which has a high concentration of liberals, illegals, asylum seekers, etc.
LePage’s strong holds were in northern Maine and northwestern Maine.
LePage actually spoke French before he spoke English....his family was French/Acadian....western Maine borders Quebec. He is one of...I think sixteen children.
His father was no good. He beat his son Paul when he was a kid, and once dropped young Paul off at a hospital, gave him half a dollar, and told him “Tell them you walked into a wall.” Nice.
Young Paul ran away from home and lived on the streets, earning some money shining shoes. A Charles Dickens character! Eventually, another family took him in, and young adult Paul went to college, eventually became mayor of Waterville, Maine and CEO of Marden’s, a chain of discount and salvage stores here in Maine.
The First Congressional District....southeastern Maine...is more liberal than the Second District, and sometimes skews statewide and senatorial elections towards the democrats.
It comprises 20% of the state’s land area, and it is where Portland is located.
Many states have this problem....the Los Angeles and San Francisco area skews California to the democrats.....Las Vegas skews Nevada toward the RATS....then there’s Philadelphia and Pittsburgh which prior to 2016 turned Pennsylvania to the dems. Or, as James Carville said, “Pennsylvania is Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between.”
Then Chicago messes with the Illinois statewide vote....Detroit with Michigan’s.....Seattle skews Washington state....many states have this problem.
Bangor has a lot of dems but, being in the 2nd district, has a lot of GOP voters here and there, too.
Augusta, the capital, not a huge factor in elections.
The coastal areas swell in population during the summer. At election time, those areas are more liberal than the interior, which has a bigger population than you might think. Lewiston and Auburn area sizeable areas, away from the coast, and, in the case of Lewiston, it has a lot of Somali refugees.