Westbrook, MAINE - In case you missed it, Portland Press Herald opinion page editor Greg Kesich takes Republican gubernatorial candidate Mary Mayhew to task for her role in exacerbating Maine’s growing opioid crisis. In his latest column, Kesich highlights how Mayhew, in her relentless anti-government crusade, worked hard to cut Medicaid at a time when the program could have helped blunt the impact of Maine’s growing drug crisis -- and, to make it worse, how she is now campaigning on it to court Paul LePage voters in a primary that continues to move to the extreme right.
“Twelve-hundred-and-seventy-four deaths later, the administration’s policy of dumping people off Medicaid (known here as MaineCare) and refusing federal funds to expand eligibility for others has made drug treatment unaffordable to thousands of Mainers who desperately need it,” wrote Kesich. “In hindsight, it looks like a terrible error in judgment. But if you want remorse, don’t look to Mary Mayhew, LePage’s commissioner of health and human services and current Republican candidate for governor. She’s not trying to hide her role – she’s campaigning on it.”
“...but don’t expect Mayhew to get any flak from the other Republicans competing with her anti-government campaign for governor,” Kesich continued. “The primary has turned into a contest of who can out-LePage LePage.”
To read the full column in today’s Press Herald, click HERE.
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