Gov. Paul LePage has been taking a beating from Democrats and advocates of the Kids Safe Products Act, a law that identifies and attempts to phase out harmful chemicals from consumer products. The criticism stems from the governor’s decision last week to put four chemicals on the so-called priority list, supposedly ending the administration’s nearly three-year resistance […]

Click here to listen to Monday’s WGAN interview with Mike Violette and Ken Altschuler about the LePage administration’s decision to hire the Alexander Group to audit the state’s Medicaid and public assistance programs. Interesting take by Violette, a vowed supporter of Gov. Paul LePage, who said it appeared that the nearly $1 million contract for […]

After remaining relatively quiet during the first three months of the MaineCare rides saga, Democratic leaders are now diving headlong into the controversy.  On Monday, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Michaud blasted Gov. Paul LePage and his administration for mismanaging the new brokerage contracts. On Thursday, the day after PPH colleague Joe Lawlor reported that the state failed to obtain […]

  When Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Michaud recently announced that he was gay, the six-term congressman said that he didn’t want to make his sexuality a campaign issue. What he didn’t say, but was largely assumed by political observers, is that his sexuality could be used to garner campaign donations.  And so it is.  The […]

Here’s the link to Monday’s segment on WGAN where we discuss the influx of outside money in Maine legislative and gubernatorial races. Also, a short segment on the potential benefit of U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Col., supporting Mike Michaud, as well as human trafficking and a related bill by Rep. Amy Volk, R-Scarborough.  And while […]

North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling has released a new poll of the Maine gubernatorial race. The results are essentially the same as the last PPP poll, which had Democratic candidate Mike Michaud with a narrow lead over Republican Gov. Paul LePage and a wider advantage over independent Eliot Cutler.  Michaud leads LePage 38 percent to […]

The media has had a lot of fun with Tuesday’s decisive vote to legalize — ok, not really — marijuana in the city of Portland. “Reeferendum,” a teaser used by one of the local television stations, is one of my personal favorites. But No. 1 on the list? This photo, taken by BDN photographer Troy Bennett, of […]

(Update @ 10:39 a.m. – Grant apologized to Volk via press statement, saying his remarks last week were “ill-conceived.” “I should have done my homework first,” he said. ) There’s been a lot back and forth over the Legislative Council’s decision last week to reject a bill by Rep. Amy Volk, R-Scarborough, to help sex trafficking […]

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Michaud had a brief appearance on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow show Tuesday to talk about his decision to announce that he’s gay. The interview is toward the end of the 13-minute segment, which is front-loaded with Maddow’s montage hammering Gov. Paul LePage. Michaud doesn’t say much more than he’s already told the […]

So Monday was a dead news day, right?  Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Michaud owned the news cycle again Monday, but Tuesday the focus will begin to shift to Gov. Paul LePage, who launches his celebratory kickoff in Augusta. Like Michaud’s announcement Monday, LePage’s launch will be a controlled event. The press will be screened and […]