AUGUSTA — The Maine Senate confirmed the nomination of Steve Bowen, Gov. Paul LePage’s pick to lead the Maine Department of Education, in a vote this morning.

Bowen, who left his spot as the Republican governor’s senior adviser on education policy to take the Cabinet post, previously worked as a teacher in Camden-Rockport and at the Maine Heritage Policy Center as the conservative think tank’s top education analyst.

Debate in the Senate was dominated more by arguments about education policy than Bowen’s merits. Senators voted 25 to 10 in support of the nomination, with the split largely along partisan lines.

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