LEWISTON — Before a hometown crowd of about 300 supporters in the basement reception hall of the church he attended as a boy, Republican Gov. Paul LePage declared victory early Wednesday morning.

“Tonight I’m very, very humbled and very proud; I’m very, very proud,” LePage said. “Because 50 years plus, I was raised across the street. I’m home. But home is Maine.”

He said he wanted that home to be a place for all Mainers to have a chance for their own version of the American Dream.

LePage made note of a sweep of Republican victories across the U.S. on Tuesday, saying the message from voters was clear.

“What we’ve done tonight in America transcends me and every other governor, including the former president,” LePage said to his supporters at the Franco Center in Lewiston’s Little Canada neighborhood. He said he spoke to former President George H.W. Bush earlier in the evening.

“What it is, it’s about the American people who have spoken and we have said, ‘Enough is enough. We want to go back to the American ideals,'” LePage said.

LePage said he had spoken to other Republican governors, including Wisconsin’s Scott Walker, who had just won re-election themselves, just before coming to the podium in Lewiston to address his supporters.

Those in attendance were not only high-ranking LePage administration officials and party loyalists but rank-and-file voters, including Steve Hughes of Lewiston.

“The one thing I like about the governor is he is true to his word,” Hughes said. “Everyone gives him a hard time, saying he doesn’t speak like most politicians, but he speaks like a true person and he goes by his beliefs.”

Hughes said he didn’t agree with LePage 100 percent of the time but had such respect for him that he could take the governor’s occasional inflammatory statements.

Despite being outspent by his Democratic opponent and his opponent’s supporters, LePage grew what many thought was a flat base of support to nearly 48 percent of the vote.

LePage, a firebrand who has been both praised and castigated for his blunt and occasionally offensive language, took time in a brief speech to thank his family, his daughters, his son, his wife and his mother-in-law.

“Believe me,” he said of his mother-in-law, “if you think I’m not (politically correct), don’t let her to the mic.”

LePage also said he spoke with Cutler on Tuesday night and over the course of the campaign had gained “a tremendous amount of respect for one man in this campaign: Eliot Cutler helped me understand where he’s from.”

LePage added, “I’ve grown from that relationship and in fact, I told him tonight, ‘You should be the attorney general for the state of Maine.'”

Beyond winning the governor’s office in what’s been a hard-fought race against Democratic challenger Mike Michaud and independent Eliot Cutler, Republicans gained many key seats in the state Legislature, positioning LePage for a strong start to his second term in 2015.

Republicans won seats from Democrats in state Senate races in Auburn and York but also grew their numbers in the House propelled by a larger-than-expected voter turnout that many predicted would benefit Democrats.

Rick Bennett, chairman of the Maine Republican Party, said the victories Tuesday showed voters wanted a governor and lawmakers who would focus on fixing problems and not on partisan bickering and gridlock.

“Gov. LePage is the real deal,” Bennett said. “He’s been talking about real issues and talking about his positive message of reform.”

sthistle@sunjournal.com

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