BANGOR (AP) — A conservation group is endorsing Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud for Maine governor.

Caroline Pryor, board chairwoman of Maine Conservation Voters, said in statement Friday that Michaud has been a leader on dozens of environmental and economic policies. The group says it also wants to help “elect the candidate who is best positioned to defeat the current governor.”

Crystal Canney, spokeswoman for independent Eliot Culter, said in a statement that he helped former Sen. Ed Muskie create the Clean Air and Water Acts, two of the most important environmental laws.

Brent Littlefield, senior adviser for LePage’s campaign, said the endorsement is about politics. He says LePage “issued the second-largest environmental penalty in Maine’s history and the largest in two decades against a big oil company that caused spill pollution.”

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