PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - In a story April 13 about Maine Gov. Paul LePage’s potential U.S. Senate campaign, The Associated Press reported erroneously the year that U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ current term ends. It ends in January 2021, not next year.
A corrected version of the story is below:
LePage considering Senate run, but says he’d be bad at job
Maine Gov. Paul LePage says he’s considering running for the U.S. Senate, but also feels he “wouldn’t make a very good legislator.”
By PATRICK WHITTLE
Associated Press
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Maine Gov. Paul LePage said Thursday he’s strongly considering running for the U.S. Senate, but also feels he “wouldn’t make a very good legislator.”
The term-limited Republican governor made the comments during a radio appearance on WGAN-AM. He will leave office next year after serving two terms, and there’s speculation about his next move.
LePage has raised the possibility of challenging independent U.S. Sen. Angus King. He did so again Thursday, but also said he wonders if he’d be effective in Washington. He also said he thinks Senate committee meetings “would be boring,” but he added that he has what it takes to work with Republican President Donald Trump’s administration.
“I have an aversion to alligators,” LePage said, referencing Trump’s description of Washington as like a swamp. “My wife and I would have to talk this over. Do I think, and does she think, that I would be effective in Washington?”
LePage, who supported Trump since the primary season, also has been the source of rumors that he would take a job in Trump’s administration. He said he is ruling out the possibility, although he does like the idea of becoming an ambassador one day.
Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins hasn’t ruled out running for governor when her term is up in January 2021. LePage said he would likely not endorse Collins, then walked the statement back, saying he wasn’t sure if he would because he doesn’t know her well enough.
A spokeswoman for Collins said “endorsements will not be a factor in her decision, whether from the governor or anyone else.” Collins mentioned the possibility of her running for governor earlier this week.
LePage and Collins have clashed before. LePage criticized Collins last year for choosing not to support Trump’s presidential campaign.
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