6:52 p.m.

PORTLAND — Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, headlined a fundraising luncheon for Waterville Mayor Paul LePage in Portland on Monday.

About 80 people attended the event, which cost $750 per person, the maximum individual donation allowed in Maine.

LePage, Maine’s Republican gubernatorial nominee, said he appreciated Barbour making the trip.

“It’s been a very enjoyable event,” he said during a brief news conference after the lunch at DiMillo’s Restaurant, which was not open to the press.

Barbour, a lawyer and former lobbyist, is serving his second term as governor of Mississippi. He was also chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1993 to 1997.

“The Republican Governor’s Association is very bullish on this race because we have a great candidate, there’s tremendous enthusiasm in Maine for him and for change,” Barbour said. “He’s campaigning on the right things and so I’m glad to be here on his behalf.”

Barbour’s trip to the Northeast also included a stop in New Hampshire for a fundraising breakfast in support of Republican gubernatorial nominee John Stephen.
 

11:55 a.m.

By The Associated Press

PORTLAND — Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is coming to Maine to raise money for Republican gubernatorial candidate Paul LePage’s campaign.

Barbour was to host a fundraising luncheon for LePage at DiMillo’s Floating Restaurant in Portland today. Barbour is past chairman of the Republican National Committee and current chairman of the Republican Governors’ Association. He’s in his second term as Mississippi’s governor.

The visit comes after former President Bill Clinton campaigned on behalf of Democrat Libby Mitchell.

LePage, Mitchell and independents Eliot Cutler, Shawn Moody and Kevin Scott will face off in the November election.