| “Florida Man” Paul LePage is once again playing games with his address after years of “ping-pong[ing] between Maine and Ormond Beach, Florida” every time voters reject him and his extreme agenda.
According to new reporting from the Portland Press Herald, LePage – who has repeatedly fled the state after losing elections and promising to retire – is now claiming an Augusta apartment tied to a political ally as his ‘permanent residence’ in Maine.
Would LePage actually live in this apartment (or in Maine for that matter) if he wins? According to the Press Herald, “it feels unlikely” given LePage “won’t confirm where he plans to settle down if he’s elected.”
BOTTOM LINE: After stating he’s “done with politics” and “it’s time for somebody else,” Mainers can’t trust a politician who has repeatedly abandoned the state he wants to represent.
DCCC Spokesperson Riya Vashi:
“Florida Man Paul LePage has spent years treating Maine like a pit stop—bolting to the sunshine state every time voters reject him only to come crawling back the moment he wants a new job. Now we’re supposed to believe a last-minute apartment conveniently owned by a political ally is suddenly home? Give us a break.”
Portland Press Herald: Paul LePage is using an Augusta apartment for his political comeback
- On paper at least, LePage lives in an apartment in the same building as a barber shop that is next to an Enterprise Rent-A-Car location near the Augusta Memorial Circle rotary. Next door is one of Shawn Moody’s collision repair shops.
- That is not a coincidence. Moody, a LePage ally who ran in the 2018 gubernatorial race and lost to Gov. Janet Mills, has a real estate holding firm that owns the building that includes the apartment LePage put as his address when he registered to vote last April. Then in May, LePage announced his bid to run for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District.
- Residency discussions have followed Maine’s former governor for years: Maine Democrats call him “Florida man.”
- During his 2022 bid to reclaim the Blaine House, the New York Times reported that his wife claimed a property tax break meant for permanent Florida residents while LePage served as governor.
- Would LePage, the pugnacious former governor who has ping-ponged between Maine and Ormond Beach, Florida, since leaving the Blaine House, actually live in this Augusta apartment if he wins November’s contest to succeed U.S. Rep. Jared Golden?
- It feels unlikely but is hard to say with certainty. LePage, a former Waterville mayor and Lewiston native, and his allies won’t confirm where he plans to settle down if he’s elected.
- LePage said in 2018 that he intended to move to Florida, citing no income tax and lower property taxes. The couple sold their Boothbay home in 2018 for nearly $400,000 after owning it since 2014.
- In 2020, LePage and his wife moved to the town of Edgecomb near Boothbay, and LePage posted a social media photo that July showing that he had replaced his Florida license plates with Maine plates. He then declared his intent to challenge Mills in 2022.
- He lost his race to Mills by double digits, and then returned to Ormond Beach. But by last year, he got the itch to come back to Maine to run for Congress.
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