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Why longtime Trump ally and former Republican Gov. Paul LePage is aiming for a political comeback
LEWISTON, MAINE – EXCLUSIVE – Former two-term Gov. Paul LePage of Maine says President Donald Trump is a major reason why he’s coming out of political retirement at age 76 – and he’s eyeing a campaign comeback.
«I never, ever had any aspirations to go to Washington until now,» LePage said this week in his first national interview after launching his bid for the House in Maine’s Second Congressional District, which is a top swing seat the GOP aims to flip in the 2026 midterm elections.
The contest will likely be one of the most closely watched House races in the country next year as the Republicans aim to hold their fragile majority in the chamber.
«Donald Trump, I think, is doing what is necessary in addressing the debt this country is facing. And I think that’s a big, big thing for me,» LePage said as he was interviewed in the Maine city where he was born and raised.
HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN CHAIR SPELLS OUT HIS PLAYBOOK TO HOLD THE CONGRESSIONAL MAJORITY
Former Republican Gov. Paul LePage, who is running for the House in 2026 in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, speaks with Fox News Digital in Lewiston, Maine, on May 7, 2025, in his first interview after announcing his candidacy. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
LePage highlighted, «I have a friend in the White House right now. I know President Trump. I think I can have an audience of President Trump. I know several of his secretaries very well. And so I think this is a good time. It’s a good time for me to go help.»
LePage – the brash and blunt politician who won over blue-collar workers struggling with economic woes, which helped the Republican businessman win election and re-election in the blue-leaning state – was one of the first major GOP elected officials to endorse Trump when the president first ran for the White House nearly a decade ago.
«I was Donald Trump before Donald Trump became popular,» LePage joked at the time, in a line that’s since become famous.
The conservative governor, who grabbed national attention with controversial comments made during his tenure, briefly moved with his wife, Ann, to Florida after finishing his second term in 2019.
«I am done with politics. I have done my eight years. It’s time for somebody else,» he said at the time.
CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS TARGETING THESE HOUSE REPUBLICANS IN 2026 MIDTERM BATTLE
But LePage re-established residency in Maine five years ago and challenged his successor as governor, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, in the 2022 election.
LePage ended up losing his bid for a third term by 13 points to Mills, but he did carry the 2nd Congressional District in that race.
Moderate Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, a U.S. Marine veteran who deployed to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and who often bucks his own party in Congress, has held the seat since first winning it in 2018.
Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, at a news conference in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, has represented Maine’s 2nd Congressional District since first winning the seat in 2018. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
But Golden won re-election by a razor-thin margin last year in the district, which is the second-most rural in the U.S. and the largest east of the Mississippi River.
And Trump, who carried the district in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 presidential elections by nine, seven and 10 points, earned an electoral vote each time, as Maine and Nebraska, are the only two states in the union to allocate their electoral votes partially by congressional district.
MAINE’S GOLDEN TAKES AIM AT FELLOW DEMOCRATS OVER POLICY
Golden, in a statement after LePage announced his candidacy, said, «I thought Paul was doing his best work in retirement.»
But the 42-year-old Golden has yet to announce whether he’ll seek re-election next year or instead run for either the state’s Senate seat or the open governor’s office.
In his Fox News interview, LePage reiterated that the nation’s debt is a top motivation for him to return to politics. As of May 8, the national debt was $36,212,886,111,158.26, according to Fox News’ National Debt Tracker.
«It’s the spending and the debt that this country has, and I’m worried about my grandchildren, great-grandchildren. And I think we have a president now that’s really willing to tackle it, and I’m willing to help,» he said.
But LePage added that «the other thing that is really big is what’s happening in our country with the woke environment. I think I want to be there to help clean that up if we can. Having boys play in girls’ sports is really sad.»
He also highlighted his Tuesday meeting—part of a three-day swing through the congressional district—with Maine student Cassidy Carlisle, whom he described as «the courageous young woman fighting unfair male competition in girls’ sports.»
Maine’s 2nd Congressional District shares a long border with Canada.
When asked if he’ll be spotlighting border security and immigration as major issues in his campaign, Lepage said, «Big time.»
But the controversial tariffs the president placed on nations across the globe last month has strained relations with Canada.
Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage, who’s running a Republican campaign for Congress in 2026, speaks to a voter at a gun shop and indoor firing range, on May 7, 2025, in Poland, Maine. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
«I’m all for the tariffs,» LePage said. «The tariffs will fix our international trade and lower taxes.»
LePage acknowledged: «Is it going to hurt in the short term? Yeah, it’s going to hurt a little bit in the short term, but I think it’s necessary.»
And he predicted that «the tariffs are going to be a short-term problem. I think they’re going to settle out.»
LePage spoke with Fox News at Lewiston’s Franco Center, a performing arts center and historic site of Franco-American culture located in a former Gothic church built in 1907 for French Canadian immigrants in Maine, which is located alongside the city’s historical mills and canals.
Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage, who’s running a 2026 Republican campaign for Congress, tours the Franco Center, a performing arts center and historic site of Franco-American culture located in a former Gothic church in the city of Lewiston, on May 7, 2025. Lepage was baptized as a child in the church. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
The former governor, who survived a troubling and often brutal upbringing, gave Fox News a tour of the many dwellings within blocks of the Franco Center, where he spent his childhood.
The eldest son of 18 children, LePage grew up speaking French in an impoverished home with an alcoholic and abusive father who was a mill worker.
At age 11, he ran away from home after his father beat him and broke his nose. He lived on the streets of Lewiston and often crashed on friends’ couches for a couple of years before earning a living shining shoes, washing dishes at a restaurant, and haling boxes for a local truck driver.
«I had a very, very, rough upbringing as a youth. We were in welfare, we were in poverty,» he said.
Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage points in the location of a building where he lived during his childhood, in Lewiston, Maine, on May 7, 2025. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
LePage, speaking in the church where he was baptized and sought refuge during his family troubles, told Fox News, «It feels good coming in this building. This was a special building. A couple of nuns and priests were really helpful in my upbringing.»
He went on to graduate from high school, and with financial help from friends, attended and graduated from college.
He later enjoyed success as a businessman, including greatly expanding Marden’s Surplus and Salvage, a Maine-based discount store chain.
Years later, he ventured into politics, winning election to the Waterville city council and later serving as the city’s mayor before winning statewide office in 2010.
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The former governor says his rough childhood has influenced his political life in a way that not many other politicians can understand.
And he lamented, «Unfortunately, the mentality in the current society is not to help people get out of poverty, but it’s to keep them in poverty.»
«I want to help get them out of poverty,» he said. «I think there are so many programs that we can institute that will elevate people in poverty, rather than keep them.»
Politics,Elections,Donald Trump,Governors,Congress,House Of Representatives,Maine,Republicans
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Hadrosaurio: cómo era la especie de dinosaurio que encontraron momificado con piel y cascos sorprendentes
Un equipo de investigadores de los Estados Unidos y España logró revelar la apariencia más realista del Edmontosaurus annectens, uno de los dinosaurios gigantes del Período Cretácico, que vivió entre 69 y 66 millones de años atrás.
El hallazgo de restos fósiles fue en el este de Wyoming, Estados Unidos. Fue liderado por el paleontólogo Paul Sereno, de la Universidad de Chicago. El estudio se publicó en la revista Science, de la Asociación Estadounidense para el Avance de la Ciencia.
Permitió reconstruir aspectos únicos de la piel, las crestas y los pies de este animal herbívoro, gracias a la extraordinaria conservación de varios fósiles momificados.
“Es la primera vez que tenemos una visión completa y detallada de un dinosaurio grande en la que realmente podemos confiar”, afirmó el doctor Sereno.
La investigación se centró en dos ejemplares fuera de lo común procedentes de la “zona de las momias”, un área de menos de diez kilómetros de diámetro famosa por su riqueza paleontológica.
Los dos fósiles más completos corresponden a un individuo juvenil y otro adulto joven; ambos fueron claves para conocer la cobertura tegumentaria real de estos animales que vivieron hace unos 66 millones de años.
Edmontosaurus annectens fue un dinosaurio herbívoro que vivió hace entre 69 y 66 millones de años en América del Norte. Su cuerpo podía superar los doce metros y se adaptaba a pastar plantas en manadas.
Contaba con un amplio pico sin dientes en la parte delantera, ideal para recolectar vegetación baja y blanda.
La reconstrucción más reciente revela que presentaba una piel cubierta de pequeñas escamas, una cresta carnosa a lo largo del cuello y el lomo, y cascos en los dedos de pies y manos.
Su forma de caminar era especial: usaba tanto sus cuatro patas como solo las traseras, lo que lo hacía diferente de otros dinosaurios conocidos.
Estas características lo transforman en una pieza clave para entender la evolución de los grandes dinosaurios herbívoros.
Ahora, el equipo liderado por el doctor Sereno logró interpretar restos de dos ejemplares hallados en la “zona de las momias” de Wyoming, un sitio célebre por su riqueza fósil.
Los fósiles analizados corresponden a un individuo juvenil y a un adulto joven, ambos con detalles anatómicos nunca vistos en el registro fósil tradicional.
Los expertos aplicaron tomografía computarizada, microscopía óptica y espectroscopía de rayos X sobre los huesos y la piel fosilizada.
Esas tecnologías permitieron observar las texturas y formas originales sin dañar los fósiles.
Según escribieron los investigadores, “todas las estructuras de la piel fosilizada están preservadas como una fina plantilla de arcilla que se formó en la superficie de un cadáver enterrado mientras se descomponía”.
El equipo encontró que la piel muestra una cresta carnosa y una fila de espinas, además de cascos en dedos tanto de patas delanteras como traseras.
Estas características nunca antes documentadas con tal claridad en dinosaurios ofrecieron nuevos datos sobre la evolución anatómica de los hadrosáuridos, un grupo del que se sabe poco en términos de rasgos blandos.
La máscara de arcilla preservó íntegramente la microestructura de la piel, al reproducir formas y detalles pequeños gracias a minerales como caolinita e illita.
“La conservación no dependió de ambientes marinos sin oxígeno, sino que ocurrió en un entorno fluvial perfectamente aireado, algo insólito para dinosaurios tan grandes”, aclararon los investigadores.
Entre los hallazgos importantes, el trabajo deja ver que la fidelidad en la conservación de los tejidos blandos permite aprender más sobre la biología y conducta de los dinosaurios de finales del Cretácico.
El avance ayuda a entender la variedad real de formas que pudo tener este amplio grupo de animales.
University of Chicago Medical Center
El equipo recomendó dejar de usar el término “impresión de piel” y propone “renderizado del tegumento”, que define mejor los modos de conservación de tejidos blandos.
Aclararon que no hallaron pigmentos ni proteínas originales, por lo que no pueden determinar el color auténtico del animal ni conocer detalles profundos de su composición química.
Tampoco se puede saber si la cresta carnosa fue una característica exclusiva para todos los individuos de la especie.
El equipo prevé analizar nuevos fósiles de la región y buscar restos de tejidos en sedimentos distintos. Concluyeron que el hallazgo “permite mirar de cerca cómo se veían y cómo podían vivir estos gigantes del pasado”.
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Letitia James ‘wreaking havoc’ on New York in ways voters may not even realize, GOP challenger says
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Fox News Digital sat down with New York Republican attorney general candidate Michael Henry, who made his case on why the Democrat currently holding that office, Letitia James, needs to go and why his campaign has the message to do that.
«Two things,» Henry told Fox News Digital when asked what voters in New York tell him they are most concerned about. «Crime and affordability.»
Henry explained that New Yorkers are «fed up» with the cost of living in the state and may not realize that many of the regulatory policies that affect affordability are handled by the attorney general’s office.
«It’s really put a hamper on economic growth in the State of New York, how her and her bureau chiefs, deputy bureau chief, and the attorneys in the office, who all serve under the discretion of the attorney general, have really crippled the New York State economy,» Henry said.
LETITIA JAMES UP AGAINST ‘BY THE BOOK’ PROSECUTOR ‘WHO MEANS BUSINESS,’ FORMER KENTUCKY AG CAMERON SAYS
Fox News Digital interviewed NY AG candidate Michael Henry about his plan to unseat Letitia James. (Fox News Digital/Getty)
Henry expressed concern specifically about energy costs and what he called a «far-left agenda» that James has been implementing.
«We see a Democrat governor in Josh Shapiro, who’s encouraging New York energy companies to work in Pennsylvania right across the line, where you could literally throw a rock and hit a truck on the Pennsylvania border. But then the 100 years worth of energy under our feet in the southern tier of New York State, which would not only revive the economy, but the people in places like Manhattan would see probably about a 60% cost of energy go down,» Henry said.
«And Letitia James has been wreaking havoc on the daily lives of New Yorkers, and in many instances they just don’t even realize it, and this is something I’ve been trying to shine a light on, letting them know how much damage she’s doing to them and their ability to just be able to afford to live here.»
ANDERSON COOPER SAYS IT WAS ‘NOT A GREAT LOOK’ FOR LETITIA JAMES TO THREATEN TO SUE TRUMP AFTER HER ELECTION
New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks alongside Gov. Kathy Hochul during a press conference in New York City on Nov. 6, 2024, discussing the impact of Donald Trump’s reelection as president. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Henry ran unsuccessfully against James in 2020, but his 45% of the vote was one of the best showings for a Republican in the state in decades.
Henry told Fox News Digital he lives a comfortable life as an attorney and didn’t plan on running again, but when he looked around and surveyed the situation he felt compelled to do so.
«You travel to upstate New York, you see these wind fans that don’t work, you see solar panels that break in the winter, yet we’re not allowed to use all options when it comes to energy development,» Henry said.
«Three thousand correctional officers, which is a huge employer in upstate New York, were fired by Letitia James and Kathy Hochul, three thousand families that relied on that income to take care of things like tuition or put food on the table, and they were blocked from going into other civil servant employment. You just see the war on agriculture, war on dairy farmers. There’s a 62-county drug crisis that’s been exacerbated, and if you had told me in 2022, all these issues would have happened or been this bad, I never would have believed you.»
Ultimately, Henry believes that New Yorkers need an «outsider» candidate who has «no fear of Letitia James at all.»
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Letitia James, New York’s attorney general, and Zohran Mamdani, New York City mayoral candidate, embrace during a campaign rally at United Palace in New York City on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (Christian Monterrosa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Henry explained, «Look, let’s be honest, she wakes up every day focused on three things: targeting the president of the United States, weaponizing her office against political opponents, and ignoring the issues that matter most to hardworking families,» Henry said. «And she’s forgotten that the New York state attorney general is the people’s lawyer, and it’s not the enforcer for the Democrat National Committee.»
On the crime front, Henry hit James for «not cooperating with local law enforcement,» particularly sheriffs in Republican areas, and said New Yorkers are «fed up» on the crime issue.
James will be in court Friday morning after being charged with mortgage fraud, which she has dismissed as political, but Henry pushed back on that narrative.
«People have seen her awkwardly stumble through these press conferences off the cuff, and now we’ve seen her ethical issues, where apparently she’s not only multiple times signed documents saying she’s married to her father, she doesn’t even know what state she lives in, apparently.»
«And Letitia James can’t have it both ways. She can’t say I’ve been trained by the best and then have these discrepancies on numerous occasions in her mortgage applications. It’s either that she knew what she was doing or she lacks the basic reading comprehension skills of a middle schooner, because I could walk into a middle school and put a mortgage application on any child’s desk, and they would say to me, I’m not married to my daddy,» Henry added. «So she cannot have it both ways, and she’s going to be held accountable this time, and we’re seeing it on a daily basis.»
politics,new york,elections
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