A long-shot effort to impeach Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) failed Thursday when the state House of Representatives passed a motion postponing indefinitely consideration of the impeachment order. The postponement measure, introduced by House Republican Minority Leader Kenneth Fredette, passed 96-52.
The LePage critics pushing the unprecedented impeachment effort faced an uphill battle, as even the leaders of the Maine’s Democratic House did not publicly support the effort. The impeachment order would have been the first procedural step toward impeachment. It would have initiated an investigation of LePage that could have ultimately led to his impeachment. It listed eight allegations of inappropriate behavior by LePage, including the accusation that he pressured an education organization into firing Rep. Mark Eves, the Democratic speaker of the House, as its president by threatening to block state funding to one of its charter schools.
Relations between the governor and state legislators have been tense for years, but were further inflamed by comments he made last week that New York drug dealers “impregnate” white girls in Maine.
