AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage said Thursday he believes that Maine’s senior senator, Republican Susan Collins, has her eye on Blaine House..

“I think she knows what she’s doing. She’s planning to run for governor,” LePage told Portland radio station WGAN.

Collins, who’s been in the Senate for two decades, has said she plans to decide by fall whether she wants to jump into the race to succeed LePage, whose term ends in 2018. He can’t run again because of term limits.

LePage said he hasn’t decided whether he will seek election to the Senate.

“I can’t say yes or not. I don’t know. I don’t have a crystal ball,” the governor said.

Earlier this week, LePage said he is “looking at it very strongly” and that he is getting “more pressure to run for Senate than I ever did for governor.” 

LePage may opt to try to unseat U.S. Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent who is up for reelection next year. So far, only Republican state Sen. Eric Brakey of Auburn has declared an intention to challenge King.

LePage took aim at both Collins and King during the radio interview.

He said each of them has been “unwilling to look at health care and to fix it.”

“Because of ideology, they don’t want to fix health care,” LePage said. “Shame on both of them.”

 This story will be updated.

scollins@sunjournal.com

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