Highly unlikely

LePage: Collins ‘highly unlikely’ to win GOP gubernatorial primary

By DANIEL STRAUSS

Maine Gov. Paul LePage predicted Thursday that Sen. Susan Collins would probably lose a Republican primary in the state if she decides to run for governor.

LePage was asked about the possibility that Collins would try to succeed him during an interview with Maine's WGAN, and he offered his latest round of criticism of his fellow Republican.

"I will say this right away. I do firmly believe deep down in my heart that Susan Collins, in order to become the governor of the state of Maine, will have to run as an independent, and she's highly unlikely to win a Republican primary," LePage said.

LePage added that if she did make it through a GOP primary and got to the general election, "she wins."

The staunchly conservative LePage has previously ripped the moderate Collins for voting against the GOP’s Obamacare repeal bill.

His latest comments come as Collins weighs whether to stay in the Senate or jump into the Republican gubernatorial primary, where she's considered a heavyweight potential candidate. During a stop in Ellsworth, Maine, on Tuesday, Collins said she would make a decision soon on whether to run for governor.

"I'm really trying to figure out where I can do the most for the people of Maine," Collins said, according to The Ellsworth American.

Currently, there are nine Democrats running for governor and just one Republican, former Maine Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew.

LePage, in his radio appearance on Thursday, also said Collins would struggle to do a better job than him on handling the state’s budget and health issues.

"Let her do a better job than I did in trying to get our accounts balanced and getting this state under fiscal responsibility," LePage said. "She has no idea what she's stepping into when it comes to Medicaid expansion. She really has no idea. She's doing exactly what Angus King did, and look at the mess he left me."

King, an independent who is Maine's other U.S. senator, was governor from 1995 to 2003.