Gov. Janet Mills

As expected, Mills didn’t propose sweeping new initiatives or massive expansions of existing programs as part of her two-year budget proposal. Instead, it was the total dollar figure of the governor’s budget proposal — $10.3 billion — that drew the most initial attention.

The governor's proposal is nearly $1 billion more than the current baseline budget of roughly $9.4 billion, a figure that accounts for legislative spending initiatives that kicked in after passage of the biennial budget in 2021.

Mills, all white in suffragette-style and wearing a pair of iconic “Bean Boots,” gave an aspirational inaugural address, front loaded with accomplishments and backfilled with a to-do list for her next four years in office.

It took less than 10 hours for the smiles, back-slaps and warm-and-fuzzy feelings on the opening day of the session Wednesday to fade away and for partisan tensions to rear up in the Maine Legislature.

Lawmakers are being sworn into Maine's 131st legislature on Wednesday. Gov. Mills wants to have the legislature introduce, pass and let her sign an emergency energy relief bill the same day that the new legislature is sworn in. And that has not happened in nearly three decades.

According to her campaign, Mills raised $716,991 between Sept. 21 and Oct. 25. LePage, by comparison, reported raising $289,118 during the same reporting period, according to his campaign filing with the Maine Ethics Commission.

With less than a month until Election Day, here are several recent ads that might grab voters’ attention, but that need some additional facts or a dose of reality.

In this week’s Pulse: LePage stumbles on abortion debate question, Mills more poised, but cagey on some issues, LePage's dark portrayal of Portland, and control of the Maine Senate.

Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and former Republican Gov. Paul LePage tussled over their stewardship of state finances Thursday during a forum hosted by the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce.

After battling for months on television and in the media, Gov. Janet Mills and former Gov. Paul LePage clashed over abortion, government spending, the opioid epidemic and immigration during their first face-to-face debate ahead of the November election.