Governor of Maine endorses Christie

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, shown Wednesday in Sandown, N.H., will “… tell you things you may not want to hear but you need to hear,” said Maine Gov. Paul LePage, who endorsed Christie in the Republican presidential race.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, shown Wednesday in Sandown, N.H., will “… tell you things you may not want to hear but you need to hear,” said Maine Gov. Paul LePage, who endorsed Christie in the Republican presidential race.

PORTLAND, Maine -- Chris Christie won the endorsement Wednesday of Maine Gov. Paul LePage, the first Republican governor to announce a pick in the presidential race.

photo

AP

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waves as he arrives at a house party Tuesday, June 30, 2015, in Bedford, N.H.

The outspoken leader called Christie, the New Jersey governor, "the real deal."

Christie set aside a morning event in New Hampshire and detoured to Maine to pick up the endorsement.

"He's not gonna be a politician and talk out of both sides of his mouth," LePage said of Christie, who opened his 2016 campaign a day earlier. "What he's gonna do is tell you things you may not want to hear but you need to hear. And then he's gonna go to work to fix them."

LePage also praised Christie's recent chairmanship of the Republican Governors Association. The group was instrumental in helping LePage win re-election, pouring more than $5 million into the race.

"When all of you and your colleagues around the country had me as dead-walking governor, Chris Christie had faith," he said, referring to the media.

Both LePage and Christie have had brushes with scandal.

Wednesday's event took place hours before a Maine legislative committee voted to start an investigation into LePage's ethics. Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves has accused LePage of forcing a school for at-risk youths to fire Eves from the top job there by threatening to withhold more than $500,000 a year in state money.

Christie dismissed the matter, saying he had full faith in his fellow governor.

In New Jersey, former top Christie aides were accused of creating politically motivated traffic jams at a bridge to retaliate against a Democratic mayor who declined to endorse Christie's re-election.

Christie denies he had anything to do with it, and no evidence has emerged to rebut that.

Christie declared his candidacy for the 2016 GOP nomination Tuesday and went directly to the early-voting state of New Hampshire, which is seen as crucial to his pathway forward. He plans to go back to the state for more events.

Elsewhere Wednesday, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, rapper Flo Rida, the Macy's department store chain and football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith all distanced themselves from GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump after his remarks about Mexicans.

Trump's team is struggling to hold the Miss USA pageant together after exits by hosts, performers, judges and and the two television networks that were scheduled to broadcast the event July 12, NBC and Univision. Trump owns the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants.

Flo Rida had been the highest-profile performer scheduled for Miss USA in Baton Rouge, and his representative confirmed Wednesday that he would not perform. Country singer Craig Wayne Boyd, winner of The Voice last year, and pop singer Natalie La Rose, whose single "Somebody" hit the Billboard Top 10 this year, also dropped out. There were no more announced performers.

Smith, the former Dallas Cowboys running back who was a judge for Miss USA, cited Trump's statement and NBC's decision in backing out.

Trump's presidential campaign announcement contained his assertion that some Mexicans who come to the United States bring drugs and crime, and some are rapists. The comment struck many Hispanics as insensitive, and Univision's decision last week to back out of televising Miss USA and break off its business ties with Trump led to a cascade of others following suit. Trump responded by suing Univision on Tuesday.

Martinez, the nation's first Hispanic female governor, also denounced Trump's comments.

"I think those are horrible things to say about anyone or any culture ... anyone of any ethnicity," said Martinez, a Republican. "I mean, that is uncalled for ... completely."

Macy's said Wednesday in a statement that the retailer was "disappointed and distressed" by Trump's remarks and would end its relationship with him. Trump responded in a statement that he had decided to end his relationship with Macy's because of pressure from outside sources.

"Both Macy's and NBC totally caved at the first sight of potential difficulty with special interest groups who are nothing more than professional agitators," Trump said.

Another GOP hopeful, Ben Carson, released fundraising totals on Wednesday, saying his campaign has raised more than $8.3 million in the past three months.

Campaign spokesman Doug Watts said the retired neurosurgeon received donations from more than 151,000 donors since launching an exploratory committee in early March. The fundraising totals are for money raised from then up through Tuesday.

Carson was the first Republican to release his quarterly fundraising totals.

Information for this article was contributed by Alanna Durkin, Steve Peoples, Mesfin Fekadu, Mae Anderson and Russell Contreras of The Associated Press.

A Section on 07/02/2015

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