Trump pushing Maine gov to run for Senate: report

President Trump is reportedly urging Maine’s GOP Gov. Paul LePage to run against Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) for Senate in 2018.

White House advisers told The Washington Post that Trump plans to call LePage to encourage him to run and offer his endorsement.

“The president is actively engaged in fundraising, candidate recruitment and other efforts to help elect Republicans up and down the ballot,” White House spokesman Raj Shah told the Post. He declined to comment on LePage specifically, saying the conversations are private.

LePage, a longtime Trump ally who supported him in the 2016 presidential race, said in July that he was considering challenging King.

The Post reported that LePage has been a subject of White House discussions regarding potential GOP Senate candidates for the midterm elections.

{mosads}King, an independent who typically caucuses with Democrats, has served in the Senate since 2013, and was the state’s governor from 1995 to 2003.

LePage is the seventh least popular governor in the country, according to the report, and has faced backlash in the state for controversial statements including saying that he makes up fake stories to feed to reporters.

He once referred to himself as “Donald Trump before Donald Trump.”