Janet mills
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Paul LePage
Governor of Maine from 2011 to 2019
Paul LePage | |
|---|---|
LePage in 2017 | |
| In office January 5, 2011 – January 2, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | John Baldacci |
| Succeeded by | Janet Mills |
| In office January 6, 2004 – January 5, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Nelson Madore |
| Succeeded by | Dana Sennett |
| Born | Paul Richard LePage (1948-10-09) October 9, 1948 (age 76) Lewiston, Maine, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouses | Sharon Crabbe (m. 1971; div. 1980)Ann DeRosby (m. 1984) |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | Husson University (BS) University of Maine (MBA) |
Paul Richard LePage (; born October 9, 1948) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 74th governor of Maine from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the mayor of Waterville, Maine, from 2004 to 2011 and as a city councilor for Waterville from 1998 to 2002.
LePage was elected mayor of Waterville in 2003 and reelected in 2008. He r
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Paul LePage’s first memory is of his house nearly burning down.
Of his father, LePage’s earliest recollection is the man kicking him on the ground.
And of his siblings, he recalls tripping over the body of a brother who died one night in their Lewiston tenement.
Although LePage is reluctant to revisit the violence and tragedy that defined his upbringing, the 19 years between his birth and when he entered college stand as some of the most influential in shaping how Maine’s governor understands the world. In his attitudes and worldview, no other period has drawn deeper demarcations of right and wrong, tough love and self-discipline.
From the materials of his own experience, LePage forged a viewpoint on how one ought to succeed in modern society, crafting a formula in which the power of personal responsibility will always trump the ability of government to help. Although he is certainly not alone in this understanding, from its basic tenets he has drawn both high praise and deep criticism, as he attempts to overturn what has been a 50-year government campaign to ease social ills
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[Editor’s Note, 6/16/2022: The following article, the first in a two-part biography of Maine Governor Paul LePage, appeared in the now defunct Portland Phoenix‘s January 12, 2012 print edition. As the articles are not available in their entirety on the web — and LePage is currently running for a non-consecutive third term — I’ve reposted them here. Part II is here.]
Escaping Poverty; or, the Horatio Alger Years
Portland Phoenix, 12 January 2012
By Colin Woodard
Governor Paul LePage generated more controversy and negative press in his first year in office than most Maine politicians do in their entire careers. Elected on a promise to cut taxes, social spending, and regulations that hamper job growth, he has undermined his standing with legislators and the public by picking unnecessary fights with the NAACP, women, organized labor, journalists, and even the leaders of his own party.
A man who campaigned on his Dickensian childhood and identification with the hardworking everyman, once in office LePage outsourced much of his policy agen
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