UPDATE: Gov. Paul LePage released a statement Tuesday saying he will not be giving a State of the State speech this year.

“This year I will not deliver my State of the State speech to the Legislature. Instead, I’ll follow the historical precedent of sending a written message to the Legislature,” he wrote in a prepared statement.

AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage is taking his town hall-style forums to a TV audience Tuesday night, but his staff says it is not instead of delivering a State of the State speech.

LePage will participate Tuesday in an unscripted event at Husson University in Bangor, the governor’s office announced.

The idea is for Mainers to hear directly from the governor about his vision for the state, LePage spokesman Peter Steele told Tom Bell of The Associated Press on Monday.

Steele told The Associated Press the event isn’t a substitute for the State of the State address.

LePage previously said he’s going to take a pass on delivering the State of the State address live to lawmakers. Instead, he’s going to submit a letter in coming weeks.

When a staff member of the MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” asked the governor’s office if LePage will deliver the annual speech, Steele did not respond directly to the question. During Maddow’s TV story on the matter, she showed a screen shot of an email from Steele that read, “Why does Rachel Maddow have such an unnatural obsession with Governor LePage? Her neurotic fixation on him is kind of bizarre.”

The video shows more responses from Steele that focus on why Maddow is interested in asking the question.

The move to skip the annual address marks the latest chapter in LePage’s contentious relationship with lawmakers. The governor has repeatedly criticized lawmakers since taking office in 2010 and has stopped speaking with Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves, who is suing him in federal court. LePage also has a strained relationship with Senate President Michael Thibodeau, a fellow Republican who last year rejected his budget plan.

Two weeks ago, the House failed to muster support for a vote on an investigation that could have led to impeachment for alleged abuse of power.

At Tuesday’s event, LePage will appear before a small audience at the Dyke Center at Husson University. The governor’s office is working to invite a variety of people from the Bangor area, including Democrats, Republicans and independents, said Brent Littlefield, a political adviser to LePage.

Reporters from other media outlets will not be permitted at the venue.

Rep. Jeff McCabe, the Democratic leader in the House, said LePage appears to be isolating himself from the public by appearing in a forum that has a hand-picked audience.

“It’s odd to call something a town hall and control who gets to be in the audience,” he said. “It’s not a town hall.”

He said he was surprised that a television station would give the governor such a platform. 

Also chastising LePage Tuesday for declining to give a State of the State Address this year was Assistant House Majority Leader Sara Gideon, D-Freeport.

“Maine people all over the state show up to work every day,” Gideon said in a prepared statement.“If the governor respects them and their work ethic, he ought to show up and do his job. Maine people deserve that. Let’s put an end to the games. ”

In Augusta on Tuesday was Brent Littlefield, one of LePage’s top political advisors. Littlefield, who is based in the Washington-D.C. area, said he was in Maine for LePage’s televised town hall.

The event will be broadcast live from 8 to 9 p.m. and streamed live on station’s website.

More coverage: Paul LePage says ‘bring the guillotine back’ for drug dealers

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