Republican LePage re-elected as Maine governor

By Dave Sherwood LEWISTON Maine (Reuters) - Maine Republican Governor Paul LePage was re-elected in a tight race over Democratic challenger Mike Michaud on Tuesday, promising supporters he would improve Maine’s business climate and fight harder against welfare fraud. LePage, 66, is an outspoken Tea Party-backed conservative who was considered one of the most vulnerable governors in the country when the campaign began. He took 47.5 percent of the vote with 56 percent of precincts reporting by early Wednesday morning, while Michaud had 44.1 percent and center-left independent Eliott Cutler had 8.4 percent. "Thank you for trusting in our mission," LePage told a cheering crowd of supporters in a midnight victory speech at the Franco-American Center in his hometown of Lewiston. "I have the American dream." He did not mention Michaud in the speech, which began before Michaud could finish his concession. LePage, the product of a broken home and the eldest of 18 siblings, has been heralded by supporters as a self-made businessman who would help attract jobs and repair Maine’s ailing economy. He was first elected governor in 2010 on a wave of support from the Tea Party. He quickly gained national notoriety when he told state leaders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to "kiss my butt," called climate change "a scam," and made a crude sexual remark about an opposition leader’s use of Vaseline. LePage’s comments on climate change raised the ire of billionaire environmentalist and Democrat Tom Steyer, who spent nearly $2.3 million since August to attack LePage and push voters to Michaud, who campaigned on green energy reforms, tighter environmental regulations and a focus on climate change. In a concession speech in the Democratic bastion of Portland, Maine’s largest city, Michaud, a former millworker and six-term U.S. Representative, told supporters that he was disappointed but accepted the result. "I want to congratulate Governor LePage on his re-election and I want to wish him the very best as he leads our state over the next four years," said Michaud, who would have become the first openly gay man to be elected governor of a U.S. state. Polls had showed LePage and Michaud in a statistical dead heat to the end, with Cutler, a businessman and Washington, D.C. lawyer, trailing far behind. LePage said he had "gained a tremendous amount of respect" for Cutler during the campaign. "I told him tonight, you should be the attorney general of the state of Maine," he said. Despite an early autumn snowstorm Sunday that led to widespread power outages and forced some polling centers to relocate, Maine voters swarmed polls in what officials predicted could be a record turnout. David Trubee, a retired, 71-year old veteran from Bowdoinham, Maine, said he voted for LePage. "He’s rough cut but very bright. What we need is a businessman to take charge and improve the business climate here. He’s done that," said Trubee. (Additional reporting by Michael Flaherty; Editing by Richard Valdmanis, Peter Cooney and Ken Wills)