By AlannaDurkin, The Associated Press
AUGUSTA, Maine — A Maine panel has rejected one of Republican Gov. Paul LePage's nominees to the University of Maine System Board of Trustees.
The Education and Cultural Affairs Committee voted 8-6 against Susan Dench's nomination to the 16-member board on Friday.
Several UMS faculty members and outside groups, like the Maine Women's Lobby, raised concerns about Dench's posts on her Bangor Daily News blog, like her argument that the "quest to build girls up" has "feminized our schools."
Dench said lawmakers chose partisanship over a diversity of opinion.
LePage's office said it was the first time the Education Committee has ever rejected a nominee to that board.
The panel supported James Donnelly and Samuel Collins' nominations to the board. The full Senate will consider all three next week.