AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage administered the oath of office to state Sen. Susan Deschambault on Tuesday afternoon, four days after he abruptly canceled her first scheduled swearing-in to send a message to Democratic lawmakers.
Deschambault, D-Biddeford, took the oath during a closed-door ceremony in LePage’s office suite just before 5 p.m. on Tuesday. About 90 minutes later, Deschambault took her seat on the Senate floor – to hearty applause from her colleagues – as lawmakers began a night session to vote on a supplemental state budget.
Senate President Mike Thibodeau, R-Winterport, had delayed debates and votes on major issues until Deschambault was sworn in.
The Senate’s newest member said afterward that she was “relieved” and described LePage as “all business” during the meeting.
“I’m just ready to hit the ground running,” she told reporters outside the governor’s Cabinet room. “I’m so happy that District 32 finally has someone (in the Senate). It took a week, so I’m just glad this day or this moment is over with.”
After winning a special election last week to fill the vacant Senate District 32 seat, Deschambault suddenly became a pawn in a political battle between Democrats in the Legislature and the Republican governor. On Friday, she showed up at LePage’s office with several family members only to be told that the scheduled swearing-in ceremony had been canceled.
LePage was fuming over Democrats’ opposition to one of his nominees to the Maine Unemployment Insurance Commission. He opted to wait the full five business days allowed by law for a candidate to challenge the results of an election.
“Democrats treated Steve Webster despicably and it’s unfortunate that good people get caught up in political games,” LePage’s spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett said Friday after the governor canceled that day’s swearing-in ceremony for the senator-elect.
LePage did not come out of his office to speak with reporters immediately after Tuesday’s ceremony, and his communications staff declined to comment.
The delay of Deschambault’s oath of office is the latest dust-up between LePage and Democrats over his nominees. On Friday, he withdrew Webster’s nomination as well as two others after Democrats on the Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Committee voted against Webster for the commission that resolves unemployment claim appeals.
LePage and Republican lawmakers have accused Democrats of playing partisan politics with qualified nominees, a claim strongly disputed by Democrats.
Lawmakers may have narrowly avoided another confrontation with LePage on Tuesday when a committee voted 6-5 to endorse one of LePage’s choices to fill a seat on the Maine Board of Environmental Protection, former Republican Rep. Kathleen Chase of Wells. Five of the six Democrats present voted against Chase after environmental groups said her voting record as a legislator shows “considerable bias” toward the state’s environmental laws.
Deschambault and Senate Minority Leader Justin Alfond, D-Portland, said they are ready to move beyond the controversy over her swearing-in ceremony.
“We need get back to work and continue the work that we are doing,” Alfond said. “The governor was all business and that’s fine. All we asked him to do was swear in the senator, and he did.”
Deschambault said she was honored by the decision by Thibodeau – the Legislature’s highest-ranking Republican – and other legislative leaders to delay any major votes until after she was seated.
“That was giving one senator respect,” she said.
Deschambault defeated Republican Stephen Martin on March 29 by about 17 percentage points to fill the District 32 vacancy created when Sen. David Dutremble, D-Biddeford, resigned for personal reasons in late January. The district includes Biddeford, Alfred, Arundel, Dayton, Kennebunkport and Lyman.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
