Paul LePage, a Republican who served as governor of Maine from 2011 to 2019, is his party's nominee for the open 2nd congressional district seat in 2026 against Democrat Matthew Dunlap, the state auditor.
2026 Races & Market Forecast
Live TruthIndex™ and prediction market consensus for races contested by Paul LePage.
- Born
- October 9, 1948
- Birthplace
- Lewiston, Maine
- Education
- Lewiston High School (1967)
Husson College (bachelor's degree in business administration, 1971)
University of Maine (Master of Business Administration, 1975)
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Paul LePage was born on October 9, 1948, in Lewiston, Maine, the eldest son of the 18 children of Theresa and Gerard LePage, both of French Canadian descent.
He grew up speaking French in an impoverished home with an abusive father who was a mill worker, and at age 11 he ran away and lived on the streets of Lewiston for two years before two families took him in.
He graduated from Lewiston High School in 1967 and, after Husson College agreed to let him take its test in French, graduated from Husson in 1971 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. He earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Maine in 1975.
Career
Paul LePage worked from 1972 to 1979 for a lumber company in New Brunswick, Canada, and later for Scott Paper Company, founded the consulting firm LePage & Kasevich Inc. in the 1980s, and became general manager of the Maine retail chain Marden's in 1996. He was elected to the Waterville City Council in 1997 and served until 2002, then won the 2003 election for mayor of Waterville, taking office in January 2004 and serving until 2011.
LePage won the 2010 governor's race with 38.1% of the vote, ahead of independent Eliot Cutler and Democrat Libby Mitchell, and was re-elected in 2014 with 48.2%, defeating Democratic congressman Mike Michaud and Cutler.
During his tenure from 2011 to 2019 he made extensive use of the veto, rejecting 652 bills by July 2018, more than all of Maine's governors over the previous 100 years combined. LePage ran again for governor in 2022 and lost to Democrat Janet Mills, 56% to 42%.
2026 race
Maine's 2nd congressional district, which covers central and northern Maine and includes Lewiston, Bangor, and the state capital, Augusta, is open in 2026 because Democratic incumbent Jared Golden withdrew from the race in November 2025.
In 2024 the district voted for Donald Trump by 9.5 percentage points while re-electing Golden with 50.3%, and in the 2022 governor's race Paul LePage carried it by about two points while losing statewide.
LePage announced his campaign in May 2025 and received 100.0% of the vote in the Republican primary, from which businessmen James Clark and Gavin Solomon withdrew. His residency has drawn criticism, and he has rented an apartment in Augusta from fellow Republican Shawn Moody.
In the general election on November 3, 2026, he faces Democrat Matthew Dunlap, the Maine state auditor, who won his party's nomination in a ranked-choice runoff.