One of the nation’s highest-profile governors will campaign with former Gov. Paul LePage in Lewiston next week.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican whose victory last year sent shockwaves across the political sphere, will campaign with LePage at a “special campaign fundraiser” in Lewiston on Sept. 7.
Youngkin’s appearance is part of efforts to help Republican gubernatorial candidates Democratic-leaning and politically mixed states, Kristin Davison, his political advisor, said. Such assistance was helpful for Youngkin’s own campaign last year, she said.
The Virginia governor has visited other states this summer, including Colorado and Nebraska, to campaign for Republican candidates. He is set to travel to even more in a dash that comes amid speculation that he could run for the presidency in 2024.
It is the second time Youngkin has come to Maine for a political event this summer: he attended the National Governors Association conference in Portland last month, in an event hosted by Democrats Gov. Janet Mills. Now he will campaign with LePage, who is Mills’ predecessor and opponent in a November race that also includes independent Sam Hunkler.
The announcement from LePage’s campaign praised the Virginia governor’s education policies. As governor, Youngkin issued orders banning school districts from requiring masks in classrooms as well as the teaching of critical race theory in K-12 schools, though it was not part of the state’s curriculum.
Youngkin is likely to focus on “kitchen table” issues that he zeroed on as a gubernatorial candidate and has highlighted as governor, including education, cost of living and safety, Davison said. He focused on such issues during an appearance stumping for Michigan gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon on Saturday.
Youngkin’s election last November was held up by Republicans nationally as an ominous sign for vulnerable Democrats across the country, including for Mills in Maine.
However, education has not been the major issue in Maine that it has been in other places, with less than 7 percent of Mainers in a summer Republican poll saying empowering parents to “control their children’s education” was the top issue facing state government.
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