AUGUSTA, Maine - Republican Sen. Michael Willette, of Presque Isle, has resigned as Senate chairman of the Legislature’s State and Local Government Committee, amid growing criticism from other lawmakers, including members of his own party. At issue are a series of Willette's Facebook posts considered racist and extreme.
Sen. Willette’s Facebook posts became the subject of news stories earlier this month after liberal blogger Mike Tipping published several of them that suggested President Obama viewed members of the Islamic State terrorist group as members of his Islamic family; that Muslims in western countries should be rounded up and air-dropped back to where they came from and that Islam preaches deceit and lying.
Willette later apologized on the floor of the Senate. "As a state legislator, I am held to a higher standard, we all are, and this, - we all need to show restraint, especially myself in this instance."
But the apology was not enough for many lawmakers, and groups like the Maine chapter of the NAACP. And over the weekend, Willette again signaled his approval of some of his friends' racist statements by "liking" their comments on Facebook. That upset some fellow GOP senators and led to a discussion with Republican Senate President Michael Thibodeau.
"I talked with him over the weekend, and, you know, Sen. Willette is wanting to bring closure to this issue, and he suggested if he offered his resignation as the chair of the State and Local Government Committee, that maybe we could move on," Thibodeau says.
Willette then submitted his resignation as chair to Thibodeau. Senate Democratic Leader Justin Alfond, of Portland, says it was an appropriate step for Willette to take.
"When you say hateful things, when you exhibit racism, when you hide behind Facebook and just try to like things and do things that are just out of the ordinary for an elected official, there have to be consequences," Alfond says.
Mike Tipping, the blogger who brought Willette’s comments to public light, says he hopes Willette really understands why people are upset.
"The best outcome here would be for Willette to really take this as a sign of what he said was not OK, and learn from that and grow as a person, you know," Tipping says. "The problem here isn’t what he said, it is that he holds these beliefs about black people, about Muslims."
Rachael Talbot-Ross of the NAACP says she is pleased that Willette has stepped down from his chairmanship, but she says racism and intolerance in Maine go far beyond Willette. "This is certainly not just about one, one man and his opinions. It is deeply ingrained in our society and we hope more will be done."
Willette did not respond to interview requests from MPBN, and was not present for the State and Local Government Committee meeting Wednesday afternoon.
But that's not the end of the story. On Thursday, the Senate will take up a resolution that Thibodeau and Alfond and several other senators have worked out, instructing the Senate Rules Committee to develop a training program for senators on civil discourse.
"I’m old enough so I don’t have to worry about Facebook. I don’t do it," Thibodeau says. "But other people do, and the fact of the matter is we need to have a little bit of training and we need to talk out what is appropriate and what isn’t appropriate."
Sen. Alfond says he hopes the resolution will have more of an impact than just in the Senate. "Having the training is important. Having outside groups continue this big and deep conversation about race, about bigotry, about xenophobia, about making sure we raise the bar as elected officials - those are all important things that we must continue to do."
Talbot-Ross says she hopes Senate leadership will meet with the NAACP as they work on a training program.
