Former Gov. Paul LePage on Saturday vowed to phase out the income tax, institute a parents’ bill of rights, and require photo identification to vote in a high-energy address to Maine Republicans at their Augusta convention.

Seven months after he launched his bid for a third term, LePage spoke to hundreds of fellow Republicans on the second day of the Maine Republican State Convention. He quickly drew distinctions between himself and Gov. Janet Mills, who will seek her second term in November.

“The Mills administration and her liberal cronies are sending us down the path of big government, high taxes, loads of red tape and folks, Maine people have had enough,” he said.

To counter LePage, Maine Democrats called together key lawmakers for a “rapid response” press conference in downtown Augusta. Party leaders said taxes have not gone up under Mills, the state budget is balanced and the state’s rainy-day fund is at an all-time high at $492 million.

“No matter what lies and smears they spin this weekend over at the civic center, Republicans can’t change reality,” said Democratic Party Chairman Drew Gattine. “Paul LePage’s tenure in office was a complete and abject failure on issue after issue.”

The Democratic response highlights the urgency felt by both parties this election season. Mills, 74, and LePage, 73, will face off in November in what’s expected to be an expensive and highly contested race.

For Republicans, the first in-person convention in four years — the pandemic forced a remote meeting two years ago — was a chance to build momentum for fall elections that they say will lead to a GOP wave. As it is now, Democrats control the governor’s office, state House, state Senate and both congressional seats. 

As LePage entered the civic center arena, his supporters chanted “Move Maine Forward” as they waived campaign signs while surging up the middle aisle behind him.

LePage briefly recapped his childhood in which he ran away from home as a young boy to escape domestic violence. He reminded the crowd that he had to take his college entrance exam in French because English was his second language.

As governor — he served two terms from 2011-2019 — LePage said he reformed the state’s welfare system and emphasized work over government programs. And though he has previously said he would not repeal the state’s Medicaid expansion if it is working, he listed off statistics about who has signed up for the program expanded by Mills early in her term.

Of the 93,000 who have enrolled in the health insurance program, 55,000 are under the age of 29, he said.

“We’ve got to get them to work,” LePage said.

At the Democratic press conference, Gattine said most of the people who recently signed up for Medicaid are working and that health care is an important part of keeping people in the workforce.

When LePage talked about the need to require a photo identification to vote, the crowd cheered. When LePage asked why Democrats oppose the requirement, one man in the crowd yelled “they want to cheat!”

As he has before, LePage said he would reinstate nurses, firefighters and police officers who lost their jobs during the pandemic for refusing to get vaccinated. He talked about allowing parents to more easily choose where to send their children to school and said he wants to protect parents from feeling afraid to complain to a school board.

He said since Mills has been governor, drug overdose deaths have doubled, suicides are up, child deaths have increased and chronic medical conditions are being ignored. He criticized Mills for pandemic shutdowns and said if he’s elected, he will involve legislators in the decision-making process regarding executive orders after 30 days.

“Never again do we want to see our churches closed while our liquor stores are still open,” he said.

Earlier in the day, U.S. House candidate Liz Caruso of Caratunk, surrounded by dozens of supporters carrying campaign signs and the Gadsden Flag that bears the slogan “Don’t Tread on Me,” introduced herself as a home-school mom, Maine guide and local selectboard member.

“This election is about the restoration of our constitutional republic,” she said. “The days of the status quo of the DC elite running our lives has come to an end.”

She said she will fight mandates on medical decisions and in education, saying that she believes if Americans want to wear masks and get vaccinated, that should be their decision. She said she’s pro-life, pro-American trade and in favor of a balanced budget mandate.

“We are here at a historic moment of our nation where citizens must choose whether or not we will stand for freedom, values and our faith,” she said. “It’s a battle of God and freedom versus evil and tyranny.”

When her speech ended, the crowd gave her a standing ovation and supporters chanted “we need Liz,” as she left the stage.

Caruso’s opponent in the June primary, former two-term U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, played a video prior to his speech that showed him asking tough questions of federal administrators. Between clips, the words “Bring Back Bruce” flashed on the screen.

The winner in June will face U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a 2nd District Democrat, in November.

Poliquin lumped Golden in with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders as he talked about high inflation and Democratic proposals to pay off student loan debt. He said Democrats are responsible for high gas, grocery and heating fuel prices.

“You cannot force our seniors to make a choice between staying warm, buying meds or eating healthy, that is exactly what this agenda is doing,” he said.

Both Caruso and Poliquin said the country must get control of the southern border, citing illegal immigration and fentanyl as serious problems. Poliquin said he recently traveled to the border to see for himself what is happening.

“We’re Republicans, we believe in immigration, it must be legal,” he said to cheers from the crowd.

To round out the day, retired Navy SEAL Ed Thelander, who is running against U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree in the 1st Congressional District, asked fellow Republicans if they are happy with high gas prices, what’s being taught in schools and concerns about their freedom to speak.

“Anybody happy with their freedom of speech being infringed?” he said, to which the crowd yelled “no.”

“We’re going to come together to fix that, we have to do it now,” he said. “If you don’t stand up right now, shame on you. That freedom of speech is going to get squashed.”