Entering the extraordinary post-Labor Day stretch of this 12 months’s gubernatorial campaign, Maine’s political parties are sharpening their attacks, with Democrats describing the document of Republican challenger Paul LePage as “disastrous,” and Republicans labeling incumbent Democratic Gov. Janet Mills a “failure.”Nine weeks earlier than Election Day, Maine Democrats on Monday touted Mills’ document since 2019 from rising state funding for public colleges and municipalities to increasing public medical insurance protection and abortion rights.At a celebration headquarters information convention, 4 Democrats who served in elective workplace when her predecessor, LePage, was governor, from 2011-2019, criticized his document and his model.Democratic Party Chair Drew Gattine, a former legislator and chair of the House Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs, mentioned LePage’s “disastrous policy ideas and unhinged temperament plunged our state into chaos for eight long years.”Gattine mentioned, “The man running for governor is the same old Paul LePage.”LePage contended with a divided or Democratic-controlled legislature for many of his tenure and wielded the veto pen greater than any Maine governor in historical past.Representative Rebecca Millett, of Cape Elizabeth, described LePage as somebody averse to compromise and mentioned, “By the end of his time in office, he had vetoed more bills than all the governors in the previous 100 years combined.”As an instance, Millett pointed to her bipartisan 2017 invoice requiring colleges to check their ingesting water for lead.Millett mentioned, “He said that it was unnecessary, vetoed it, and rallied just enough of his Republican colleagues to sustain his veto.”Representative Lois Reckitt, of South Portland, mentioned LePage cannot be trusted on abortion rights, particularly if Republicans have been to regain management of the legislature.”Former Governor LePage, will not rule out signing restrictions in Maine into law should they reach his desk,” Reckitt mentioned, referring to latest statements to reporters. “They could pass a total ban on abortions in Maine. This is not a constitutional right at present.”Abortion protections handed by the Democratic-controlled state legislature signed into legislation by Mills have created an 8-foot security zone outdoors clinic entrances, a invoice Reckitt labored on, expanded the listing of lawful abortion suppliers to incorporate skilled nurse practitioners and doctor assistants, and required state-regulated medical insurance plans to pay for abortion care. Reckitt mentioned, “In the abortion issues, if we lose the majorities, we’re in trouble, and if we lose the governor’s race, we’re really in serious trouble.”Maine Republican Party Chair Demi Kouzounas disputed that characterization in an interview outdoors the state social gathering workplace in Lewiston.Kouzounas mentioned, “Our state already has a law — it’s 24 weeks — and I think it’s going to stay that way, and that’s what Paul LePage has said over and over again, I will not change that legislation.”Since 1994, a Maine statute has assured the fitting of abortion till fetal viability and afterward to protect the lifetime of the mom.“It’s going to take a whole lot of movement to change that law,” Kouzounas mentioned.Maine Democrats mentioned whereas the Mills administration is now absolutely sharing 5% of state income with municipalities, as required by state legislation, that sunk to 2% underneath LePage and pressured many municipalities to boost native property taxes.”Paul LePage was relentless as the governor of Maine in trying to abolish the revenue sharing program,” mentioned Rep. Michael Brennan, of Portland, additionally the town’s former mayor for 4 of the eight LePage years. “There is no doubt in my mind that if Paul LePage is elected governor, revenue sharing will be one of the first things that will be slated for cuts.”Brennan mentioned solely Mills has complied with one other state legislation, for the primary time – requiring the state to totally discover 55% of state Okay-12 public schooling prices.As the fall campaign kicked off, Maine Republicans on Monday faulted Mills’s dealing with of the financial system and inflated vitality costs.Kouzounas mentioned, “I see nobody’s lives better, other than they’re spending a lot more money trying to heat their houses, pay for schooling, pay for supplies pay for milk, for food.”Kouzounas criticized Mill’s dealing with of the opioid disaster, citing this 12 months’s rise in deadly drug deaths, which reached 69 in July, the worst month since Jan. 2020, and 399 for the primary seven months of the 12 months, 17% increased than the identical interval in 2021. “It’s not better, it’s worse,” Kouzounas mentioned. But Brennan disagreed.“It is night and day in this state in terms of what is available to families and people suffering from addiction in terms of services and programs that are available compared to Paul LePage,” Brennan mentioned. “Their record is so bad for the eight years he was governor compared to what Governor Mills has done over the last four years.”Kouzounas, a dentist, discounted the influence of Mills’ growth of Medicaid, or MaineCare, by the Affordable Care Act – which LePage blocked even after a referendum for it — enrolling 90,000 extra Mainers in government-subsidized medical insurance.Kouzounas mentioned, “You can expand, if you will, Maine insurance, but without the health care system, the beds, the doctors, the nurses, you’ve done nothing to help the Mainers.”Kouzounas additionally mentioned Mills’ coronavirus restrictions, which sparked protests in 2020, had been too harsh.Kouzounas mentioned, “There’s a lot of failures where the pandemic-made closures, with business, you know, going out of business, about 20% of them.”The Mills administration defends its coronavirus insurance policies by pointing to its top-tier vaccination fee and comparatively low loss of life fee amongst U.S. states.On funds issues, the state income surplus has quadrupled throughout the Mills years, from $207.8 million in 2018 to a document $895.9 million this 12 months.But Maine Republicans argue that is solely as a result of unprecedented quantities of federal coronavirus assist — $17.8 billion that handed by the state — propped up the state financial system.Kouzounas mentioned, “Education system and hospitals – all that money was spent. Is our health care system better? Is our education system any better?”Gattine mentioned coronavirus aid cash “did not go into the general fund.”“Maine’s economy has bounced back faster than most states,” he mentioned, citing will increase in state revenue and gross sales tax collections.Maine’s unemployment fee dipped to 2.8% in July, matching the pre-pandemic low.
Entering the extraordinary post-Labor Day stretch of this 12 months’s gubernatorial campaign, Maine’s political parties are sharpening their attacks, with Democrats describing the document of Republican challenger Paul LePage as “disastrous,” and Republicans labeling incumbent Democratic Gov. Janet Mills a “failure.”
Nine weeks earlier than Election Day, Maine Democrats on Monday touted Mills’ document since 2019 from rising state funding for public colleges and municipalities to increasing public medical insurance protection and abortion rights.
At a celebration headquarters information convention, 4 Democrats who served in elective workplace when her predecessor, LePage, was governor, from 2011-2019, criticized his document and his model.
Democratic Party Chair Drew Gattine, a former legislator and chair of the House Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs, mentioned LePage’s “disastrous policy ideas and unhinged temperament plunged our state into chaos for eight long years.”
Gattine mentioned, “The man running for governor is the same old Paul LePage.”
LePage contended with a divided or Democratic-controlled legislature for many of his tenure and wielded the veto pen greater than any Maine governor in historical past.
Representative Rebecca Millett, of Cape Elizabeth, described LePage as somebody averse to compromise and mentioned, “By the end of his time in office, he had vetoed more bills than all the governors in the previous 100 years combined.”
As an instance, Millett pointed to her bipartisan 2017 invoice requiring colleges to check their ingesting water for lead.
Millett mentioned, “He said that it was unnecessary, vetoed it, and rallied just enough of his Republican colleagues to sustain his veto.”
Representative Lois Reckitt, of South Portland, mentioned LePage cannot be trusted on abortion rights, particularly if Republicans have been to regain management of the legislature.
“Former Governor LePage, will not rule out signing restrictions in Maine into law should they reach his desk,” Reckitt mentioned, referring to latest statements to reporters. “They could pass a total ban on abortions in Maine. This is not a constitutional right at present.”
Abortion protections handed by the Democratic-controlled state legislature signed into legislation by Mills have created an 8-foot security zone outdoors clinic entrances, a invoice Reckitt labored on, expanded the listing of lawful abortion suppliers to incorporate skilled nurse practitioners and doctor assistants, and required state-regulated medical insurance plans to pay for abortion care.
Reckitt mentioned, “In the abortion issues, if we lose the majorities, we’re in trouble, and if we lose the governor’s race, we’re really in serious trouble.”
Maine Republican Party Chair Demi Kouzounas disputed that characterization in an interview outdoors the state social gathering workplace in Lewiston.
Kouzounas mentioned, “Our state already has a law — it’s 24 weeks — and I think it’s going to stay that way, and that’s what Paul LePage has said over and over again, I will not change that legislation.”
Since 1994, a Maine statute has assured the fitting of abortion till fetal viability and afterward to protect the lifetime of the mom.
“It’s going to take a whole lot of movement to change that law,” Kouzounas mentioned.
Maine Democrats mentioned whereas the Mills administration is now absolutely sharing 5% of state income with municipalities, as required by state legislation, that sunk to 2% underneath LePage and pressured many municipalities to boost native property taxes.
“Paul LePage was relentless as the governor of Maine in trying to abolish the revenue sharing program,” mentioned Rep. Michael Brennan, of Portland, additionally the town’s former mayor for 4 of the eight LePage years. “There is no doubt in my mind that if Paul LePage is elected governor, revenue sharing will be one of the first things that will be slated for cuts.”
Brennan mentioned solely Mills has complied with one other state legislation, for the primary time – requiring the state to totally discover 55% of state Okay-12 public schooling prices.
As the fall campaign kicked off, Maine Republicans on Monday faulted Mills’s dealing with of the financial system and inflated vitality costs.
Kouzounas mentioned, “I see nobody’s lives better, other than they’re spending a lot more money trying to heat their houses, pay for schooling, pay for supplies pay for milk, for food.”
Kouzounas criticized Mill’s dealing with of the opioid disaster, citing this 12 months’s rise in deadly drug deaths, which reached 69 in July, the worst month since Jan. 2020, and 399 for the primary seven months of the 12 months, 17% increased than the identical interval in 2021.
“It’s not better, it’s worse,” Kouzounas mentioned.
But Brennan disagreed.
“It is night and day in this state in terms of what is available to families and people suffering from addiction in terms of services and programs that are available compared to Paul LePage,” Brennan mentioned. “Their record is so bad for the eight years he was governor compared to what Governor Mills has done over the last four years.”
Kouzounas, a dentist, discounted the influence of Mills’ growth of Medicaid, or MaineCare, by the Affordable Care Act – which LePage blocked even after a referendum for it — enrolling 90,000 extra Mainers in government-subsidized medical insurance.
Kouzounas mentioned, “You can expand, if you will, Maine insurance, but without the health care system, the beds, the doctors, the nurses, you’ve done nothing to help the Mainers.”
Kouzounas additionally mentioned Mills’ coronavirus restrictions, which sparked protests in 2020, had been too harsh.
Kouzounas mentioned, “There’s a lot of failures where the pandemic-made closures, with business, you know, going out of business, about 20% of them.”
The Mills administration defends its coronavirus insurance policies by pointing to its top-tier vaccination fee and comparatively low loss of life fee amongst U.S. states.
On funds issues, the state income surplus has quadrupled throughout the Mills years, from $207.8 million in 2018 to a document $895.9 million this 12 months.
But Maine Republicans argue that is solely as a result of unprecedented quantities of federal coronavirus assist — $17.8 billion that handed by the state — propped up the state financial system.
Kouzounas mentioned, “Education system and hospitals – all that money was spent. Is our health care system better? Is our education system any better?”
Gattine mentioned coronavirus aid cash “did not go into the general fund.”
“Maine’s economy has bounced back faster than most states,” he mentioned, citing will increase in state revenue and gross sales tax collections.
Maine’s unemployment fee dipped to 2.8% in July, matching the pre-pandemic low.