Maine Gov. Paul LePage may not to attend the Republican National Convention unless the state delegation is seated.
Conservative radio host and Westbrook resident Ray Richardson, a close acquaintance of LePage, recounted his conversation with the governor on his Facebook page on Friday.
"The Governor of Maine, Paul LePage, in a conversation five minutes ago said that if they do not seat the Maine Delegation at the RNC, he will not go. These folks need to be seated," Richardson wrote Friday morning, adding, "The Governor gave me explicit permission to make this public."
The statement was neither confirmed or denied by LePage's political advisor or administration officials. That may be because the governor's comments could ratchet tensions between 20 delegates who support Texas congressman Ron Paul and so-called establishment Republicans who fear Paul supporters will disrupt a national GOP unity event designed to coalesce support for the presumptive presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
Two Maine Republicans have filed a challenge with the Republican National Committee, saying the Paul-backing delegates were improperly elected during the Maine Republican State Convention. Similar challenges have been filed in six other states where Paul supporters took over state conventions to elect their preferred slate of delegates.
The goal for Paul supporters is to bump the Texas lawmaker to a prominent speaking role during the Aug. 27 convention in Tampa, Fla. Some Republicans in Maine figured a deal between Paul and Romney would have been struck by now. However, each passing day has shown that both sides have entrenched their positions.
The Maine delegates this week spurned a compromise drafted by Maine Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster. Paul supporters argued that the terms were one-sided and stymied the exchange of ideas that they hope would occur in Tampa.
The RNC is expected to rule on the delegate challenge sometime next week. A spokesman for the RNC did not respond to a request for comment on LePage's relayed comments by press time.
Maine Paul supporters immediately promoted the governor's comments. Linda Bean, the L.L. Bean heiress and Ron Paul supporter, is one of the 20 delegates being challenged. Bean, who met with LePage Friday to discuss the lobster conflict with Canada, said she complimented the governor for speaking on behalf of the delegation.
"I just wanted him (LePage) to know that we were encouraged by his support," Bean said.
LePage is one of the 24-member delegation, however, his election is not being challenged by the Maine Republicans Peter Cianchette and Janet Staples.
The Maine dispute is also part of a larger national fight by Paul and his loyalists leading up to the convention.
