SUN JOURNAL • November 15, 2021
Former state Sen. Tom Saviello of Wilton, an independent, is weighing whether to run for governor next year in what could be a brutal gubernatorial battle between incumbent Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, and her two-term predecessor, Republican Paul LePage. Saviello, 71, said he wonders about whether to run as the only candidate firmly opposed to the New England Clean Energy Connect hydropower project that voters recently thumped in a referendum. He figures LePage has as much as 40% of the electorate locked up no matter what he does while Mills may struggle since progressives are unhappy with her on some key issues. But Saviello also knows that LePage’s wins in 2010 and 2014 came in part because of three-way contests that split the majority of Mainers who didn’t much want the Lewiston native in the Blaine House. LePage once made headlines calling Saviello “the most repugnant human being I’ve ever seen.”