BANGOR, Maine - Over the weekend, more than 2,000 Maine Republicans gathered in Bangor to elect delegates to the national nominating convention, and Ted Cruz supporters dominated.
Maine is sending 23 delegates to the national convention. Twenty people were selected to fill slots, and all but one support Cruz. Gov. Paul LePage, a Trump supporter, was also selected as a delegate.
While the votes of the delegates on the first ballot at the national convention are allocated on the basis of the caucus results, Ted Cruz supporters set out to get votes lined up for any second or subsequent ballots.
They clearly out-maneuvered Donald Trump and John Kasich supporters. On the first ballot, Cruz will have 12 votes, Trump will have nine and John Kasich will have two. But after that, Cruz supporters are free to support him.
Gov. Paul LePage energized the crowd with a fiery speech blasting Democrats, the Natural Resources Council of Maine, an environmental advocacy group, and the progressive group, the Maine People's Alliance.
"Not only are they the enemies," he said, "they intimidate, they will do and say anything, they lie through their teeth and they scare Republicans in election years because they gang up on people."
LePage said he will start fighting back against the two organizations this summer, though he has already been critical of both in comments made at his town meetings held across the state. He urged the delegates to join him in that effort.
"This summer, you are going to hear an awful lot about a little war that is developing between one governor and a whole lot of rich non-profits around the state of Maine," he said, "because the Natural Resources Council of Maine has got to go."
He called on the party to unite for the fall elections so he can have a Republican-controlled Legislature for his last two years in office.
Second District Congressman Bruce Poliquin drew cheers and applause when he told delegates that he will be introducing legislation to achieve welfare reforms defeated by Democrats at the state level in recent years.
"Soon on your behalf I will be introducing new legislation to require work, or community service or education to receive welfare," he said.
Whether the legislation will be considered this session is a question, given the schedule of the House for the rest of the year. And even if the House passes Poliquin's proposal, it will be difficult to pass in the Senate where it takes 60 votes to move legislation forward, not a simple majority vote.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins told reporters she will continue to refrain from endorsing a candidate for president. She did not seek election as a delegate to the national convention.
"I think it is considerate for me to step aside and let someone else who really wants to go to the convention be able to, and I do what I can do by dint of being a senator," she said.
As a senator, Collins gets to attend the convention and go on the floor, even though she can't vote. She had endorsed Jeb Bush and she joked that her endorsement apparently did little to help his candidacy. She says she has endorsed the GOP nominee for president in past elections.
"I'm going to wait and see who that is," she said. "This is a very unpredictable year, but I have always supported the nominee."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
