According to reports out of Augusta this morning, Governor Paul LePage is refusing to swear in Susan Deschambault, a Biddeford Democrat who won a special election for the Senate District 32 seat on Tuesday.
Deschambeault was scheduled to be sworn in this morning before 9am, and has her family with her at the State House to witness the ceremony, but LePage’s spokesperson now says that won’t be happening because he’s mad about an unrelated vote in the Labor Committee against his nominee for labor representative to the Unemployment Insurance Commission.
Some of Deschambault’s constituents were quick to take to social media to express their displeasure.
@Storytiller shameful. As a Biddeford resident I demand representation. #mepolitics
— Marc Malon (@marcmalon2) April 1, 2016
“The governor is REFUSING to swear-in our senator-elect,” wrote Biddeford state representative Ryan Fecteau on Facebook. “More political games from this guy who testifies to not be ‘politician.’ It’s sickening.”
This is far from the first time LePage has misused the mechanisms of his office to make political points. He has repeatedly refused to issue bonds approved by voters at referendum and last year vowed to veto any bill sponsored by a Democrat until the legislature gave in to his budget demands.
Deschambault ran on a progressive economic platform, declaring during her campaign that “building an economy that benefits everyone, not just the wealthy, will be my priority in Augusta.”
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