This story will be updated.
LEWISTON, Maine — Former Gov. Paul LePage said he would veto a 15-week abortion ban in a first debate with Gov. Janet Mills on Tuesday that featured feisty exchanges on the economy and the opioid crisis ahead of their high-profile November election.
The debate between the two was much anticipated in political circles. During LePage’s eight years as governor from 2011 to 2019, Mills served as attorney general. She was a top Democratic foil to many of the bombastic Republican’s policies and won the 2018 election to succeed him by running on overturning much of his legacy.
Even before that election, LePage was publicly floating the Blaine House return bid that he launched last year. He has turned in recent weeks from a lower-key campaign to a media blitz hammering Mills on subjects including the economy, education and the opioid crisis.
Abortion and those topics dominated Tuesday evening’s debate, which was hosted by Maine Public, the Portland Press Herald and the Sun Journal at the Franco Center in downtown Lewiston and also featured independent Sam Hunkler. With more than 10 minutes until the candidates went live, LePage came on stage and greeted Mills as she tested her microphone.
It turned quickly. At one point, LePage called Mills “a liar.” But it was the former governor who was checked by Maine Public reporter Steve Mistler after saying his rival was handing out crack pipes. His campaign was more precise around a news conference on drugs last week, criticizing Mills for a state website that links to a group that provides them.
Mills has staked much of her race on defending abortion rights after the U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision to end federal abortion rights. LePage often spoke at anti-abortion rallies as governor, but this summer, he said he had “no reason” to challenge Maine’s permissive abortion laws while not ruling out signing restrictions if he and Republicans retake Augusta.
In a recent survey by the evangelical Christian Civic League of Maine, LePage said abortion should be restricted, although he couched that as supporting the limits now on the books.
In a lengthy exchange with both Mills and moderators, the former governor said he would veto a 15-week abortion ban like those passed in Florida and Mississippi. He went on to praise the 1993 law that codified Roe v. Wade in Maine by allowing abortion until viability.
“I believe the bill that’s in place now is a good bill,” he said.
But he distinguished himself from Mills by reiterating his opposition to MaineCare funding for abortions, a measure the Democratic governor signed in the first year of her tenure. She noted his answer to the survey by arguing only she could be trusted to defend abortion rights.
“My veto pen will stand in the way of any restrictions on the right to abortion,” Mills said.
