Gov. Paul LePage is the topic of a lot of discussion in the Twin Cities. In November, LePage crushed U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud in the gubernatorial election by nearly 10 percentage points in Lewiston, long considered a safe city for the Democratic Party.

As chairperson of the Lewiston GOP, I hear city resident’s opinions on all sorts of political issues. The issues Gov. LePage attempted to resolve this year are issues that have plagued Lewiston for years. Think of problems in the welfare system. Think of the ridiculous amount of taxes that residents pay. Think of the underfunded school system.

Much like the governor, Lewiston finds its greatest enemy is the state Legislature. Looking back at the most recent legislative session, no story sums that message up better than the following:

Good Will-Hinckley, an organization that runs a charter school and receives over half a million taxpayer dollars each year, extended a job offer to Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives Mark Eves to be the organization’s new president. Eves’ qualifications pale in comparison to past presidents of GWH, but he was offered the high-paying job nonetheless, despite being one of the state’s leading opponents of charter schools.

People might be wondering how Eves pulled it off. Of the GWH hiring committee, one person was part of Speaker Eves’ legislative staff and another was a Democratic legislator that Eves had appointed to a powerful committee. It appears that political favors played a big role, and Eves almost got away with it.

Gov. LePage was paying attention and quickly threatened to withhold state funding if the organization hired Eves as its president. Not wanting to lose a huge chunk of its funding, GWH rescinded its job offer to Eves.

The governor stopped an unethical House Speaker from getting himself a high-paying job that he was not qualified for. As a result, Eves now plans to sue LePage. There’s even talk in the Legislature of impeaching the governor for interfering in Eves’ personal affairs.

When the legislative session first started, Gov. LePage brought forward several bold plans that were aimed toward changing the way Maine operates, and would have greatly benefited Lewiston in particular. Voters in Lewiston last November made it clear that they wanted to change the state’s welfare and tax systems by boldly re-electing Republican LePage, despite Lewiston being a Democratic stronghold.

I have spoken with LePage supporters in Lewiston and their comments are consistent: they don’t really like the methods he uses to get things done, but they like what LePage is trying to accomplish.

Lewiston voters asked for bold change; instead, the Legislature killed most of the governor’s proposals, including his budget proposal. The budget would later be developed in secret by legislative leaders at the last minute, barely averting a state government shutdown.

Some people have criticized the governor’s vetoes of bills sponsored by legislative Democrats. Maine needs bold changes, and LePage is sending the message to the Legislature that it can no longer do business as it has done it for the past 40 years. Legislative Democrats are resistant to many popular reforms. If legislators will not change their ways, then LePage feels it is his duty to get through to them.

Rather than serve the will of the voters, many members of the legislature are doubling-down and going on the offensive. The governor’s opponents cannot beat him on the issues, so they’re going after his character because they disagree with him. It is as simple as that.

Gov. LePage is not shy in making off-the-cuff remarks that end up spurring controversy. He recently made comments about shooting Lewiston legislators. I certainly would not have used his choice of words to express my frustration with Lewiston’s legislative delegation, but the point he was trying to make was that the delegation has let constituents down on issues such as welfare reform and state spending.

In Lewiston, LePage supporters say they would vote for him if the election were held again tomorrow. His methods are messy, but he gets the job done. People can think what they want about his methods, but I know he is honest. He is one of us, and we stand behind him.

Luke Jensen is chairperson of the Lewiston Republican City Committee. He also serves as an associate member of the Lewiston Historic Preservation Review Board. He lives in Lewiston.

Copy the Story Link