Collins: Anti-LePage conspiracy doesn't exist

State Sen. Ron Collins ... 'no GOP conspiracy against the governor' (/courtesy photo)

The senator who represents Lebanon in the state Legislature said there is no conspiracy by Republicans to thwart Gov. Paul LePage’s bid for a second term in the Blaine House, despite comments to the contrary by Press Herald columnist Bill Nemitz in today’s paper.

“I am very close to the GOP leadership in Augusta, and there is no such conspiracy under way,” State Senator Ron Collins, R-Wells, said today.

Nemitz, the marquee columnist for the Portland Press Herald, said today Republican “long knives (are) coming out – and they're all pointed directly at your back,” referring to LePage.

The Portland newspaper’s majority owner is Donald Sussman, a wealthy businessman and philanthropist for Democratic political candidates and the husband of U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine.

Collins, however, did not rule out that there could be a couple of career-minded Republican lawmakers who are trying to further their political careers at the governor’s expense.

“Some people who are ambitious could be starting something,” he said.

Collins added while some of the things the governor has been reputed as saying do sometimes raise eyebrows, they do not diminish rank and file Republicans support for his programs and leadership.

LePage has recently come under fire for reportedly saying President Obama “hates white people” during a Republican fund-raiser in Belgrade. 

The governor has said he did not say any such thing and that his comments were taken out of context. No Republicans have publicly admitted they heard the governor say any such words, but the left-leaning Portland paper has run with the story with unbridled gusto.