Former GOP governor and Trump ally to challenge vulnerable House Democrat



Former Republican Gov. Paul LePage of Maine announced his campaign Monday to unseat Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, making him the first big GOP challenger to enter the 2026 race.

LePage served as governor from 2011 to 2019 and attempted to run for a third term in 2022 until he lost against Democratic Gov. Janet Mills. Now, LePage has set his sights on Golden, who narrowly won re-election in 2024.

"The entrenched interests are fighting President Trump at every turn as he works to fix problems," LePage said in a statement Monday. "We need more straight talk to help take back Washington."

'I am running to serve the people of Maine and help the President fix Washington. We’ve had too many years of Washington, DC trying to control the people.'

Golden is one of a handful of Democrats who were re-elected to represent a red district. In 2024, President Donald Trump won Golden's district by over six points, opening up a potential pickup opportunity for Republicans.

Golden himself flipped the seat in 2018 and has narrowly held onto it since, often bucking his own party for the sake of political preservation. Notably, Maine uses a ranked-choice voting system, which relies on the voters to rank candidates based on preference. If a candidate fails to secure a simple majority, the least popular candidate is eliminated, and the voters who ranked him or her as their first choice then have their votes distributed to their second-choice candidate.

"I do not need a job, I am running to protect our Maine jobs," LePage said. "I am running to serve the people of Maine and help the President fix Washington. We’ve had too many years of Washington, DC trying to control the people. It is time to put the people before politics."

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Maine sued the Trump administration on Monday for freezing federal funds to the state after it refused to ban men in women’s sports. Maine also lied in its lawsuit about threats to school lunches for school children. The lawsuit, brought against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), claims that the Trump administration cannot revoke federal […]

University of Maine System falls in line with Trump's prohibition on men in women's sports



The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Feb. 22 that it had "initiated a compliance review of the University of Maine following the State of Maine's blatant disregard for President Trump's Executive Order 14201, Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports."

Weeks later, the University of Maine System, which consists of seven universities and a law school, revealed that its funding from the USDA has been temporarily paused pending a review of its compliance with Title IX and Title IV, which ban sex and race-based discrimination.

The USDA announced Wednesday that the UMS has fallen in line with President Donald Trump's directive to keep men out of women's sports but coupled the news of restored funding with a threat: "Any false claim by the UMaine can, and will, result in onerous and even potentially criminal financial liability."

'The choice for the rest of Maine is simple.'

Compliance apparently meant the UMS confirming to the Trump administration that it does not permit male athletes to identify as females in order to establish individual eligibility for National Collegiate Athletic Association-sanctioned women's sports; that it does not permit men to participate in individual or team contact sports with women; and that it complies with NCAA regulations, specifically the prohibition on male student athletes participating in NCAA-sanctioned women's sports.

"UMaine's decision to side with sanity is a win for women and girls in Maine," the agency said in a statement. "The choice for the rest of Maine is simple: protect equal opportunities for women, as required by law, or lose funding."

The agency previously indicated that it has funded the University of Maine to the tune of $100 million in recent years.

According to the UMS, the University of Maine received nearly $30 million in USDA awards for research and various initiatives in fiscal year 2024. The Portland Press Herald indicated that the UMS has $56.1 million in active USDA grants.

UMS Chancellor Dannel Malloy expressed confusion when the funding was first paused, claiming that the university system had already complied with the administration's rules and requests. The Maine Morning Star indicated Malloy sang the same tune Wednesday when the USDA made its announcement.

"The University of Maine System has always maintained its compliance with state and federal laws and with NCAA rules," Malloy said in a statement, adding he is "relieved to put the Department’s Title IX compliance review behind us."

'We will not allow men to beat up, injure, and cheat our women and our girls.'

Whereas the USDA had good news for the UMS, the Department of Health and Human Service's Civil Rights Office put other Maine institutions in the dog house, declaring that the Maine Department of Education, the Main Principal's Association, and Greely High School were each in violation of Title IX for enabling men to compete in women's sports.

A subpar male athlete from Greely High School in Cumberland stole first place in the girls' pole-vault competition at the Maine Indoor Track Meet on Feb. 17. This was possible only because the Maine ED told schools in the state to defy Trump's executive order banning male transvestites from competing in girls' or women's sports. The Maine Principals' Association followed suit.

"The Maine Department of Education may not shirk its obligations under Federal law by ceding control of its extracurricular activities, programs, and services to the Maine Principals' Association," Anthony Archeval, acting director of the Office for Civil Rights at HHS, said in a statement. "We hope the Maine Department of Education, the Maine Principals' Association, and Greely High School will work with us to come to an agreement that restores fairness in women's sports."

When Trump signed his executive order banning male transvestites from competing in girls' or women's sports, he stated, "Under the Trump administration, we will defend the proud tradition of female athletes, and we will not allow men to beat up, injure, and cheat our women and our girls."

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Trump Admin Halts Funding To Blue State’s Universities Over Gov Allowing Men In Women’s Sports

'Title IX violations'

Trump admin slashes Maine university funding after state keeps men in women's sports



Maine has begun to reap the whirlwind over its refusal to comply with President Donald Trump's Feb. 5 executive order banning male transvestites from competing in girls' or women's sports.

The University of Maine System, which consists of seven universities and a law school, revealed in a statement Tuesday that its funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been temporarily paused.

The UMS said that it received a copy of an email on Monday from the USDA's Office of the Chief Financial Officer that directed the department's "awarding agencies and staff offices to temporarily no longer issue any payments or authorize any other releases of funding to Columbia University of the University of Maine System."

The USDA noted that it has poured over $100 million into the University of Maine in recent years.

According to the UMS, the University of Maine received nearly $30 million in USDA awards for research and various initiatives in fiscal year 2024. The University of Southern Maine also has been receiving various USDA awards. The Portland Press Herald indicated that the UMS has $56.1 million in active USDA grants.

'Your population doesn't want men playing in women's sports.'

The department email noted further that "this pause is temporary in nature while USDA evaluates if it should take any follow-on actions related to prospective Title VI [of the Civil Rights Act] or Title IX violations. Please take any necessary actions to effectuate this direction from leadership. This pause will remain in effect until further notice."

UMS Chancellor Dannel Malloy suggested that he was unaware of any "mistakes" the university system has made, reported the Herald.

"It's disappointing. The letter that we got didn't give a reason," say Malloy. "They're looking into things. We've complied. We've answered questions."

The UMS reportedly told the USDA that it is complying with the updated NCAA policy that excludes cross-dressing men from women's sports.

Trump called Democratic Gov. Janet Mills out at a Feb. 21 governors' meeting at the White House for her refusal to comply with his popular executive order. Just days earlier, a subpar male took advantage of Mills' defiance and crushed his female competitors in the girls' pole-vault competition at the Maine Indoor Track Meet.

"You better do it because you're not going to get any federal funding at all if you don't," said the president. "And by the way, your population, even though it's somewhat liberal, although I did very well there, your population doesn't want men playing in women's sports."

'Taxpayers' hard-earned dollars will not support institutions that discriminate against women.'

According to a recent New York Times/Ipsos poll, 79% of Americans want to see athletes compete in sports teams that align with their sex.

Mills told Trump she would see him in court, to which the president responded, "I look forward to that. That should be a real easy one."

The USDA announced on Feb. 22 that it had "initiated a compliance review of the University of Maine following the State of Maine's blatant disregard for President Trump's Executive Order 14201, Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports."

"President Trump has made it abundantly clear: taxpayers' hard-earned dollars will not support institutions that discriminate against women," stated Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also launched an investigation into whether the Maine Department of Education, including the UMS, was complying with Trump's order. HHS quickly determined that the state was in violation of Title IX for allowing men to compete in girls' and women's sports and referred the case to the Justice Department.

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FACT CHECK: Image That Appears To Show Janet Mills Being Arrested Is AI

An image featured in a video shared on Instagram claims to show Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills allegedly being arrested.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by backup 6.0 (@somewhere_spiritual_) Verdict: False A content detection scan using the website “Hive Moderation” indicates the image is 99.8% likely to have been generated […]