In April 2015 Paul LePage, then governor of Maine, rescinded the executive order that included Maine's tribes in discussions of laws affecting them; weeks later two tribes pulled their members out of the Legislature and three tribes formally severed their relationship with the state.
In August 2016 LePage said more than 90 percent of the drug suspects pictured in a binder he kept were Black or Hispanic and called people of color "the enemy"; when the binder was released, nearly 60 percent of the people pictured appeared to be white.
Paul LePage's Actions and Statements as Governor on Maine's Tribes and on Race
- LePage Rescinded Maine's Order on Cooperation With Its Tribes, and Three Tribes Cut Ties With the State. In April 2015 Governor Paul LePage signed Executive Order 2015-006, rescinding his 2011 order on the state's relationship with the four tribes it named, among them the Penobscot Nation and the Passamaquoddy Tribe. The 2011 order had promised that Maine's tribes would take part in discussions of laws and policies affecting native people; the new one declared tribal members and tribal lands subject to state law and the state courts, and his office delivered the change by email to Penobscot Nation Chief Kirk Francis amid a dispute over state water quality standards. On May 26, 2015, two of Maine's tribes withdrew their representatives from the Legislature, and the next day three tribes signed a declaration severing their relationship with the state and asked Maine's congressional delegation to seek an investigation of the state's compliance with the 1980 Indian land claims settlement.
- LePage Said 90 Percent of the Drug Suspects in His Binder Were Black or Hispanic; Most Pictured Appeared White. At a town hall in North Berwick, Maine, on August 24, 2016, Governor Paul LePage, asked about his rhetoric on people of color, said that "90-plus percent of those pictures in my book, and it's a three-ring binder, are black and Hispanic people" from out of state. When his administration released the 148-page binder in September 2016, nearly 60 percent of the people charged in its more than 90 photos appeared to be white, Maine Public reported, and the most recent FBI data, from 2014, showed Black people as about 14 percent of people arrested for drug trafficking in Maine.
- LePage Called People of Color "the Enemy" and Left an Obscene Voicemail for a Lawmaker Who Questioned Him. On August 25, 2016, Paul LePage left a profane voicemail for Maine Representative Drew Gattine, who had called his remarks on race and drugs racially charged, calling him a "little son-of-a-bitch socialist" and saying "I am after you." At a news conference the next day, denying that Maine police racially profile people, LePage said: "You try to identify the enemy. And the enemy right now, the overwhelming majority of people coming in, are people of color or people of Hispanic origin." NPR reported that Maine Democrats called on him to resign, citing his "repeated and false assertion that black and Hispanic drug dealers are the enemy," and State Senator Amy Volk, one of the Republican lawmakers NPR described as uneasy, asked whether the governor suffered from "substance abuse, mental illness or just ignorance."
Frequently Asked Questions About Paul LePage on Civil rights
What is Paul LePage's record on civil rights under Trump?
Paul LePage's civil rights record comes from his time as Maine governor, 2011 to 2019: in 2015 he rescinded the order that brought Maine's tribes into state policy discussions, and three tribes then severed their relationship with the state. In 2016 he called people of color "the enemy" in Maine's drug crisis and claimed his binder of drug arrests showed more than 90 percent were Black or Hispanic, which the binder itself did not support.
What was in Paul LePage's drug dealer binder?
Paul LePage's 148-page binder, released under Maine's public records law in September 2016, was described by Alison Beyea of the ACLU of Maine as "a fairly random collection of clippings and emails." Where press releases lacked photos, LePage had sent notes asking state public safety officials to add mug shots to their press releases.
How did Maine's tribes respond to Paul LePage rescinding the tribal order?
After Paul LePage rescinded the order, Penobscot Nation Chief Kirk Francis said in May 2015: "We do not recognize the authority of the state of Maine, its governor, Legislature or courts to define our sovereignty or culture or to interfere with our self-governing rights." Francis had said in April that he did not understand where the decision came from.
Last updated: 2026-10-26