Governor Paul LePage of Maine has enacted significant conservative policies in his first year in office despite initial doubts, including the largest tax cut in Maine's history, cuts to pensions, and reductions to Medicaid. While his blunt style and controversial comments have drawn criticism, he has avoided major backlash and his approval rating increased from 31% to 47%. However, some Republicans worry his aggressive agenda could hurt their chances of maintaining control of the legislature in upcoming elections.

1. POLITICS
March 5, 2012, 7:03 p.m. ET
Maine's Governor Has a Hard Shell
By JENNIFER LEVITZ
AUGUSTA, Maine—When Gov. Paul LePage took office a year ago, doubters dubbed him a
"loudmouth" and "all talk" for provocative off-the-cuff remarks that galled some women,
environmentalists and civil-rights groups, and even some members of his own Republican
Party.
Associated Press
Fellow Republicans so far have resisted the deeper Medicaid cuts favored by Gov. Paul
LePage, shown above in December.
But in his first year in office, Mr. LePage—the first Republican to hold the office in 16 years—
has delivered more than rhetoric. Elected as part of a national wave in 2010 that swept
conservative candidates into state government, Mr. LePage ushered in the largest tax cut in
Maine's history, pared pension benefits and trimmed regulations.

2. Last month, he signed a budget that fills a $120 million shortfall in the current fiscal year partly
with contentious cuts to Maine's Medicaid program, which is among the most generous in the
country. And at his direction, lawmakers in coming weeks will begin debating $80 million more in
Medicaid cuts for the next fiscal year.
"He's come in quite aggressively and gotten a great deal of what he wanted, much more than
many people thought he would," said Sandy Maisel, a professor of government at Colby
College.
Mr. LePage has pushed through his agenda while avoiding some of the backlash faced by other
new conservative governors, including Wisconsin's Scott Walker, who is now bracing for a recall
election after a battle with unions in that state. An October survey by the nonpartisan pollster
Critical Insights found that 47% of Mainers approved of Mr. LePage, up from 31% in the spring.
Elected in a five-way race with 38% of the vote, the governor has been helped by the fact that
he oversees a Republican majority in both legislative chambers, marking the first time
Republicans have controlled both the Legislature and governor's office since 1959.
But some Republicans worry that his forceful agenda could hurt their chances of keeping their
slim majority in November. For a special election for an open state Senate seat in February,
Democrats distributed fliers calling Mr. LePage a "bully" for his planned Medicaid cuts.
"November will be a great month for Democrats in Maine," said House minority leader Emily
Cain. House Republican Dana Dow, who lost the February election to a Democrat in a GOP
stronghold, said voters were "reacting to a budget that had to be done" and that such cuts are
always painful. But he called the loss "a possible referendum on some of the changes,"
including Mr. LePage's push to pare Medicaid.
Early on in his tenure, Mr. LePage, a 63-year-old former local mayor who also ran a discount-
store chain, sparked a ruckus by removing from the Labor Department a state mural he deemed
antibusiness because it depicted Maine's labor history, including a mill strike. He declined to
attend an NAACP breakfast on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, saying he wanted to go to another
breakfast honoring King, and he invited critics of that stance to "kiss my butt." He dismissed
concerns about the plastics additive bisphenol A, when a ban was being debated, quipping that
at worst it could cause women to sprout "little beards"—and prompting more than 1,000 Maine
women to sign a Facebook campaign ironically declaring a "Little Beard Day." And in a state
long known for more moderate discourse, he said during his campaign that he wouldn't be
afraid to tell President Barack Obama to "go to hell."
"See, I don't worry about [all] that, because if they wanted somebody that was PC, they should
have never voted for me," Mr. LePage said in an interview.
The governor is also blunt about the GOP presidential hopefuls, declaring last month that the
candidates are too "injured" by the nomination fight and that the party should pick a "fresh face"
at its national convention in August in Tampa, Fla.
Mr. LePage has faced some setbacks. In November, voters repealed a new law passed by
Republicans banning same-day voter registration. Republicans backing similar laws nationwide
since 2010 say they prevent fraud, while Democrats say they hinder minority and youth votes.

3. Recently, protesters gathered at the state House after Mr. LePage asked the Legislature for the
cuts to Medicaid, which is jointly funded by states and the federal government to provide health
insurance to the needy. Republicans so far have resisted the deeper cuts Mr. LePage wanted,
concerned about Mainers and, said state Sen. Roger Katz, "uniquely aware that we need to run
for office again before he does" in 2014.
Like many states, Maine expanded Medicaid rolls in better times and is now struggling to cut
back. Maine had the fourth-highest percentage of population on Medicaid in 2009—behind
Washington, D.C., Vermont and California—at 23%, compared with the national average of
16.5%, according to the latest federal figures.
Supporters say Maine's safety net keeps the state's rate of uninsured residents low and that
removing people from Medicaid would only shift the cost to hospital charity care. Mr. LePage
says Maine's generosity has created a "welfare state."
"It's not to say we won't help you…we'll work with you to educate you," he said. "I just want you
off the couch. No more couch potatoes in Maine."
Write to Jennifer Levitz at jennifer.levitz@wsj.com
A version of this article appeared Mar. 6, 2012, on page A4 in some U.S. editions of The Wall
Street Journal, with the headline: Maine's Governor Has a Hard Shell.