On January 12, 2015,
Maine Governor Paul LePage made a statement on
Howie Carr's radio program that he might run for U.S. Senate against King, citing King's switching his endorsement in the
2014 gubernatorial election from independent candidate
Eliot Cutler to Democratic candidate
Mike Michaud as a "horrible thing to do". The next day, LePage said his comment was a joke, LePage also criticized King for his involvement in the Maine wind energy industry, saying King "ripped us off by $104 million during his eight years as governor – he ripped us off, royally, and I can’t wait until 2018 because I’m thinking that’s the guy I'm going after." A spokesman for King dismissed LePage's criticism. On May 10, 2016, LePage announced at a town hall meeting in
Oakland that he would run against King unless he was hired by the
Donald Trump administration. On May 10, 2017, LePage decided not to run; his spokesman said he preferred to focus on being governor. On July 20, 2017, LePage again said he "might" challenge King. Trump personally encouraged LePage to run and offered his endorsement. LePage did not file to run by the March 15, 2018 deadline. Eric Brakey's campaign successfully contested 258 signatures to Max Linn's petitions to appear on the primary ballot, which meant that Linn had 10 fewer signatures than the 2,000 needed to be on the ballot. Maine Secretary of State
Matthew Dunlap then declared Linn ineligible to be a candidate, although it was too late to remove Linn's name from the ballot. Voters were informed of Linn's status when they voted, and any votes cast for him were counted as blanks. Nevertheless, Linn's campaign was active on Twitter and placed campaign signs along roads in Maine. Linn signs were also seen in
New Hampshire, including in
Dover. Dover city officials said they would remove the signs upon request if Linn's campaign did not remove them, because Linn is not a candidate in a New Hampshire election and because the signs were placed improperly. Linn appealed the decision to disqualify him to U.S. District Court in
Portland, but Judge
Nancy Torresen rejected Linn's request for an injunction to bar Dunlap from informing voters he is ineligible. Linn subsequently announced he would run against U.S. Senator
Susan Collins in the
2020 Republican primary election.
Candidates On the ballot •
Eric Brakey,
state senator Declared ineligible • Max Linn, financial planner,
Reform nominee for
governor of Florida in
2006 and Democratic candidate for
FL-10 in
2008 •
Paul LePage, governor
Endorsements Results ==Democratic primary==