LEWISTON, Maine — It has been a busy week for former Governor Paul LePage, who participated in debates on Tuesday and Thursday. On Friday, he thanked volunteers for their work.
"The last few months, we've all worked very hard connecting with people," LePage said.
He also urged volunteers to keep working for the next month to help him win a third term.
"We need to encourage everyone, everyone in the state of Maine who is an eligible voter to vote," he added.
Former Congressman Bruce Poliquin, who also hopes to win back his old seat, also spoke to supporters on Friday.
"You folks who are knocking on the doors and making the phone calls are increasingly much more impactful than anything you see on TV," Poliquin said.
After thanking their supporters, the candidates immediately started echoing their TV attack ads. Poliquin focused mostly on inflation.
"Jared Golden, Joe Biden, AOC, and all the folks that are in charge, they have spent trillions and trillions of dollars that they don't need to fund the government," Poliquin said.
Jared Golden's office issued the following response to Poliquin's comments on Friday:
“Congressman Golden has the most independent voting record of any Democrat in Congress and voted against the most expensive and deficit-financed bills put forward by the Biden Administration — the American Rescue Plan and the Build Back Better Act. The Inflation Reduction Act, which he was proud to vote for, not only pays for itself but also reduces the deficit by $300 billion.”
LePage again falsely accused opponent Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, of giving Mainers "crack pipes." He also blamed her for the record number of child deaths and for not releasing DHHS information to the legislature regarding child deaths in Maine.
"The governor refuses to give information to the government oversight committee so they can investigate where the problems are," LePage said.
Later on Friday, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services announced it would give the information LePage referred to to to the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability, but the government oversight committee still doesn't have access to it.
Mills has also been out on the campaign trail this week speaking to supporters. On Thursday, she visited the Boys and Girls Club of Southern Maine.
Responding to LePage's comments, a spokesperson for Mills said she has increased child protective service staff by 29 percent since she took office.
"His comments today aren't focused on improving Maine's system to protect children, they're playing politics with tragedies," Scott Ogden, spokesperson for the Janet Mills campaign said in an email.