For common sense on Capitol Hill, Paul LePage is not the right guy | Steve Collins
Standing in front of a semicircle of cement mixers at an Auburn construction company on Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson cast this year’s election as one “between common sense and crazy.”
Then he claimed that former Maine Gov. Paul LePage is on the side of common sense.
That’s a new one. I’ve heard LePage described in many ways, but an exemplar of common sense?
Johnson, who has one of the worst jobs in America, didn’t stop there. He also touted LePage, who served as governor for two terms before leaving office in 2018, as “one of the greatest candidates that’s been recruited nationwide. Everyone in the state knows him and respects him.”
That’s absurd on its face. After all, when LePage sought to move back to the Blaine House in 2022, he lost badly, which shows that while Mainers may know him, they certainly don’t respect him.
And no wonder. Back in 2016, for example, LePage spouted off to Press Herald reporter Scott Thistle that he would like to have a duel with “a snot-nosed little guy from Westbrook” who called him a racist — Rep. Drew Gattine — and if he lined up with a gun in hand he “would point it right between his eyes.”
Advertisement
Another time, in 2010, he told a fishing group, “As your governor, you’re going to be seeing a lot of me on the front page, saying ‘Governor LePage tells Obama to go to hell.’”
That seems more akin to crazy than common sense.
This year, LePage is vying with Democratic state Auditor Matt Dunlap for the chance to represent Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, a seat held by Democrats for 28 of the past 32 years.
Dunlap, a 61-year-old Old Town resident, has a great sense of humor and a practical streak a mile wide. An avid hunter, the only thing he’s ever wanted to point a gun at is wildlife. He exudes decency and common sense.
Johnson even told reporters gathered at Auburn Concrete and Auburn Aggregates that LePage, 77, has “a great life story” and “is one of the most qualified and competent people who have ever run for the House of Representatives … since 1789.”
Not quite.
Advertisement
Nobody can touch John Quincy Adams, the most qualified freshman in House history. He had already served as the sixth president, secretary of state, a U.S. senator and as the American ambassador to Russia, Prussia and Great Britain. He was just 64 when he entered the House — and then stayed 17 years in Congress fighting against slavery.
Within my memory, there have been a handful of other former governors who have served in the House, among them Mike Castle from Delaware, Bill Janklow from South Dakota and Charlie Crist from Florida. All of them were from the common sense side of the aisle.
Instead of tapping him for a congressional seat, Maine voters should do LePage a favor and send him back to his retirement home in Florida, where he’s lived most of the time since 2019.
If what we want is common sense in the nation’s capital, the answer isn’t LePage, a tired old man. What we need is to block the kooky nonsense that President Trump serves up daily. And Dunlap has the energy and courage to take on that task.
Copy the Story Link
Tagged: 2nd district 2026, columns, election 2026
Steve Collins became an opinion columnist for the Maine Trust for Local News in April of 2025. A journalist since 1987, Steve has worked for daily newspapers in New York, Connecticut and Maine and served. More by Steve Collins
