What do Donald Trump and Paul LePage have in common? For one, a knack for dominating the headlines – but much of that coverage is fueling turmoil within Maine’s Republican party.
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Take, for example, LePage’s criticism of Republican Senator Susan Collins for her refusal to support Trump:

“She might not like Donald Trump but having a press conference criticizing him, saying, ‘I won’t vote for him,’ is not what we the people that elected her expect of her,” LePage said.

That kind of open criticism is unusual, says University of Maine Farmington political science professor Jim Melcher.

“To be critical of Susan Collins is something some conservative Republicans might say quietly or on blogs,” says Melcher. “But it’s really quite startling to hear the Republican governor of the state take a swing at the er…you know verbally…at the senator that is the most popular senator in her state.” - Main Republic