This story will be updated.
Former Gov. Paul LePage said Thursday morning that his successor in office had “been very, very fortunate that COVID came” as he debated Gov. Janet Mills for the second time this week.
“Because with COVID came $15 billion, or nearly $15 billion, from Uncle Joe [Biden],” LePage said to an incredulous look from Mills. “And that’s where the surplus comes from.”
That was one of many moments in which the two sparred over their respective economic records in a debate held before an audience of hundreds at the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Still, the debate was far more civil than Tuesday’s debate, where the two had bitter exchanges over abortion, one of the defining topic of the 2022 election. That issue did not come up in Thursday’s debate, which was almost entirely centered on economic issues, and the two smiled and shook hands at the end.
Mills fired back at LePage several times, noting what she characterized as failures during his tenure in office. She blamed him for the loss of a potential monumental deal with wind energy company Statoil, for example. Statoil had proposed a project off Boothbay Harbor but backed out in 2013 after last-minute changes demanded to the state’s energy policies by LePage.
“Under my predecessor, I think six paper mills closed in the last few years of his tenure,” Mills said. “That hasn’t happened to me, and I don’t want it to happen. I’m working my tail off.”
Thursday’s debate did not feature independent candidate Sam Hunkler.
