After Paul LePage won two Maine governorships in a row thanks to plurality voting pathologies (2010, 2014), it became of interest to ask: "How bad a governor is he?"
Really bad. LePage seems to be strongly competing for the title of "dumbest state governor of all time."
In July 2015, LePage vetoed 65 bills. Except that he could not manage to do it before the usual 10 day deadline stated in the Maine Constitution. Therefore, the bills simply passed into law.
So LePage sued, taking it to the supreme court. Result: the Maine Supreme Court by unanimous decision ruled that LePage had indeed botched the vetos, and therefore the 65 bills are indeed now law. (2015 ME 107.)
If you can think of any governor who ever was that dumb, well, then LePage will have some competition.
"This was not about winning or losing; it was about doing things right," LePage said in a statement 30 July 2015. "We are fortunate to be able to seek legal opinions from the Judicial Branch, and we're thankful the Justices came to a fast and fair resolution to this issue. We look forward to moving on and continuing to work for the Maine people."
LePage actually had said in 2015 he was going to veto every Democrat-sponsored bill until legislators stop blocking his plan to amend the state Constitution to eliminate the income tax. (If this is the criterion, then it would seem that 10 days of consideration would not be needed; a mere minute per bill would suffice?) This policy, considering the Dems as of January 2015 enjoyed majority control of the House in the Maine legislature with 79 out of 151, seemed likely to cause a problem for Maine. (The Republicans did control the Senate with 20 out of 35.) At least, it should pose a problem once LePage figures out how to veto bills.
In another thrilling LePage story, he in April 2013 claimed that the new wind turbine at the University of Maine Presque Isle – which had produced some 680000 kilowatt hours of electricity in its first year (saving the school over $100K with no CO2, rather than an estimated 572 tons, released) actually had "a little electric motor that turns the blades."
"I'm serious," LePage insisted during his remarks to the Skowhegan Area Chamber of Commerce 16 April 2013. "They have an electric motor so they can show people that wind power works. Unbelievable. And that's the government that you have here in the state of Maine."
Quite. LePage also enjoyed making up stories about the horrifying USA-wide conspiracy against Maine and its residents. For example, "If you go to William & Mary, apply to William & Mary (college in Williamsburg VA), before they'll look at your application, if you're from a Maine school, you have to take a placement exam to see if you qualify," LePage said at a press conference 25 July 2012. Actually, upon enquiring to William & Mary, they said they treat Maine citizens no differently from the residents of any other US states, and "The College of William & Mary does not now, nor did it in 2005-2006, have any separate entrance exam requirements for students based on their state of residency."