AUGUSTA, Maine — Former Maine House Minority Leader Ken Fredette, a Republican who wielded significant power in the State House during Paul LePage’s time as governor, has filed to run for his old seat in the November election.
Fredette, a 59-year-old lawyer, registered to run for the Newport-area seat last week. Since leaving the Legislature in 2018, he has lived in Brunswick but now lists a Newport address at which he said he has a garage and apartment and plans to build a second home.
He was a major figure of the LePage era as the Republican leader in the lower chamber for the last six years of the former governor’s tenure. Fredette and his conservative caucus often took on the rest of the Legislature by withholding the two-thirds House majority needed to override LePage’s record-setting number of vetoes. That forced others to negotiate with LePage.
Those hardball tactics were on display during Maine’s brief 2017 government shutdown. House Republicans sank compromise budgets between Democrats and Senate Republicans, ending the standoff after LePage and Democrats agreed to cut a lodging tax increase.
Fredette’s association with LePage did not carry into the 2018 campaign to replace the term-limited governor. Fredette was one of four Republicans in that year’s primary. LePage made no official endorsement, but his political network and family coalesced behind businessman Shawn Moody. He easily won the nod while Fredette finished last.
After his time in Augusta, Fredette has led a diverse legal practice alongside Mark Dion, a former Democratic lawmaker elected Portland mayor in November. The two have been involved in notable marijuana cases, including as part of a large team defending Lucas Sirois of Rangeley, who faces federal charges for allegedly running a massive trafficking ring.
Fredette represented the Newport-area district for eight years from 2010 to 2018. The district, which also includes Dixmont, Etna, Plymouth and Corinna, is now represented by Rep. Danny Costain, R-Plymouth, who is in his third term and is not expected to run for reelection. It is a safe Republican seat that Costain won with 72 percent of votes in 2022.
