Coverage from WCSH6/WLBZ2

Excerpt from Bangor Daily News:

Republican gubernatorial nominee Paul LePage gathered with some 150 supporters and the other six candidates in the GOP primary Wednesday in an effort to send the message that the Republican Party is united.

LePage, who surprised many by garnering 38 percent of the vote in last Tuesday’s seven-way primary, said his success is an indication that Maine people are ready for a change in how Maine government operates. He pledged to make creating jobs the centerpiece of his campaign and, if he wins, the governorship.

“The business of Maine is going to be business, come November,” said LePage, flanked by the six Republican gubernatorial candidates who lost in the primary and numerous other state and local party members.

You know my story – I was homeless at the age of 11, I had to work hard to put myself through high school and college with some help from caring others.

Now having been homeless at the age of 11 I am on the doorstep to the Blaine House in Augusta. This is the story of the American Dream. However, that dream is going to be lost in Maine if we don’t begin to tighten our belts in state government and live within our means, if we don’t reform welfare so we value the hard work I did to get to where I am today and if we don’t create jobs in Maine, now.

Tonight… Tonight… is the beginning of that change!!
I want to acknowledge and thank the other candidates who were in this race. They all have some good ideas I have heard along the way and I look forward to incorporating those into my administration when I am elected your Governor. Now we must re-double our efforts.

I can just hear them now… I can hear the other party – they have spent years scaring the people of Maine into believing that Republicans don’t care about them.

But this room is full, FULL of average, everyday Maine people and this guy right here who was homeless at the age of 11 is here to say we have more in common with you then they do and we are here to fix Maine’s broken government.

As I said tonight was not a win for any particular group… it was not a win for any particular ideology or any particular faction, tonight was a win for Maine.

So together, as one party, united in our common purpose, let’s go forth.
Let’s go forth and create a new day for Maine.
TOGETHER WE CAN CHANGE MAINE!!

They noted that his support is not regional, nor isolated within the political spectrum – Paul LePage and his proven record of cutting wasteful spending, improving services, fixing a bond debt rating, creating jobs and overcoming homelessness is a message that resonates with all voters throughout Maine.

WHO:

Representative Paul T. Davis, Sr. Former Maine State Senate Minority leader (R-Sangerville),

Representative Susan M. W. Austin (R-Gray),

Representative Bernard L. A. Ayotte (R-Caswell),

Representative Dale J. Crafts (R-Lisbon),

Representative Dean A. Cray (R-Palmyra),

Representative Kenneth C. Fletcher (R-Winslow),

Representative Jeffery Allen Gifford (R-Lincoln),

Representative Peter B. Johnson (R-Greenville),

Representative Gary Knight (R-Livermore Falls),

Representative Everett W. McLeod, Sr. (R-Lee),

Representative Robert W. Nutting (R-Oakland),

Representative Wesley E. Richardson (R-Warren),

Representative Douglas A. Thomas (R-Ripley),

Representative David Cotta (R-China),

Former Senator Linda Curtis Brawn (R-Camden),

Former Senator Lois Snowe-Mello (R-Poland) Candidate for the Senate