Paul LePage holds up a business card highlighting his campaign priorities which include “no tax on tips,” “no tax on overtime” and “tax cuts for seniors” during a campaign event in Fairfield on Thursday. He held another campaign event in Auburn on Monday. (Anna Chadwick/Staff Photographer)

FAIRFIELD —Former Gov. Paul LePage said Thursday that the regime leading Iran amid a monthslong war with the U.S. “has got to go.” He also cast ceasefire efforts as “not the answer.”

The brief remarks from the Republican who is running in the 2nd District race against State Auditor Matt Dunlap in hopes of succeeding Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, did not represent a clean answer on whether he supports President Donald Trump’s military actions in Iran. But they offered at least something from LePage after he did not respond last month to a question about the war.

Last week, while in Holden to receive the National Rifle Association’s endorsement, the 77-year-old Lewiston native who led Maine from 2011-19 said he would have something to say about Iran at a later date.

Thursday was the next opportunity, when LePage took a few questions from reporters outside Sheridan Construction Company in Fairfield after receiving a U.S. Chamber of Commerce endorsement. Asked if he hears from 2nd District voters about their feelings toward Trump’s handling of the economy and whether he approves of the Iran war, LePage had a few things to say about gas prices, inflation and refineries before touching on the conflict.

“As far as the war in Iran, that regime has got to go, but I don’t think that ceasefires every 60 days is the answer,” LePage said before moving on to a different question.

Paul LePage, Republican candidate for Congress, speaks Thursday during a special campaign announcement at Sheridan Construction in Fairfield. (Anna Chadwick/Staff Photographer)<?xml version="1.0"?> Purchase this image

Voters could interpret LePage’s answer in several ways. It did not outright praise Trump’s actions but also did not plainly bash them.

Before that, LePage discussed higher inflation during President Joe Biden’s administration and affirmed that voters in the 2nd District, which Trump has carried in each of his elections, are talking to him about gas prices. The average price of gas nationally and in Maine remains above $4 a gallon, with the noticeable uptick happening after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran in February.

The strikes killed longtime supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and sparked a broader war that has resulted in the deaths of at least 18 American soldiers and thousands of troops and civilians in Iran, Israel and Lebanon.

LePage said several things are affecting gas prices.

“The war is one, but the loss of refineries is two, and distribution is three. Distribution, they buy high, they don’t want to sell low, so they keep the gas (price) up. So that’s a problem (at) the pump,” LePage said. “I have a suggestion, and I’m going to talk to the president about it when I get down there. There is a way to solve this, and gas prices is a big issue.”

He did not share his suggestion for Trump before moving to a different question. The ongoing conflict’s unpopularity with Americans who have indicated feelings of uncertainty over Trump’s goals for the war could affect Republicans running for Congress in this fall’s midterm elections.

The Trump administration and Iran have remained apart on talks to fully open the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important oil export corridors, and to end the war after agreeing to temporary truces in June. Mojtaba Khamenei, who replaced his slain father as Iran’s new supreme leader, is reportedly preparing his military for prolonged fighting with the U.S. and Israel. Trump, meanwhile, has pivoted to seeking to squeeze Iran’s regime economically.

Dunlap, LePage’s 2nd District opponent, is a Democrat from Old Town who previously served as secretary of state and led the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine. Their matchup has not received quite as much attention while coinciding with the topsy-turvy U.S. Senate race and the gubernatorial contest.

Although Dunlap, 61, is confident he will win over enough undecided voters who are wary of LePage after his Blaine House tenure, subsequent moves to Florida and a 2022 defeat to Gov. Janet Mills in his attempted gubernatorial comeback, most election forecasters view the 2nd District race as a “likely Republican” seat.

Dunlap held a news conference in Bangor earlier Thursday to bash LePage for his past comments as governor in 2014, when he cast Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and unemployment insurance payments as “welfare benefits.” LePage replied at his afternoon event by saying he never called Social Security “welfare.”

He then caught himself when he started to talk of Dunlap, saying, “He’s a … I’m changing my habits here. Let me see.” The former governor, with his well-known history of controversial comments, paused for a few seconds while attendees at the event chuckled before saying Dunlap “is being a little bit creative with the truth.”

LePage was joined Thursday by officials who praised his business record as governor, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Eastern Region vice president, Stephen McAllister. (McAllister reminded a reporter after the event that the chamber endorsed Golden in 2024.)

Taking a question on Trump’s tariff policies, particularly Trump’s threat to impose new 50% duties on hundreds of Canadian goods starting Aug. 19, the Republican candidate said tariffs are a good “negotiating tool” and noted his role in helping U.S.-Canada talks during Trump’s first term. But he offered a bit of nuance while saying Canada has “overtaken” Maine’s blueberry market.

“Do I want tariffs? I want them to go away as quick as possible,” LePage said. “But in order to have balance, both nations have to be able to trade fairly.”

The transcript of LePage’s response to an Iran war-related question is below.

Question: How do you approve of the national economy at this point? Do you hear from 2nd District voters about how they feel President Trump is handling it, and then how does the war play into that in your mind? Do you approve of this Iran war?

LePage: “The one thing I hear, inflation under the Biden administration was nine-point something, now it’s down to three, right around three and four (a few more words were hard to hear due to the roar of a truck passing by outside). What I’m hearing from 2nd District voters is the price of gas, and there are several things affecting that. The war is one, but the loss of refineries is two, and distribution is three. Distribution — they buy high. They don’t want to sell low, so they keep the gas (price) up. So that’s a problem with the pump. I have a suggestion, and I’m going to talk to the president about it when I get down there. There is a way to solve this, and gas prices is a big issue. As far as the war in Iran, that regime has got to go, but I don’t think that ceasefires every 60 days is the answer.”