Maine’s bombastic governor, Paul LePage, is term limited and leaves office early next year. Over the past six weeks I’ve been at work on a series of in-depth profiles of the four general election candidates seeking to replace him — pieces that ask who they are, where they came from, and what shaped their world view.
The first is on Republican nominee Shawn Moody and appears in today’s Maine Sunday Telegram, tracing his ascent from the 12-year old kid left alone for a month after his mother was sent to the state mental institution to a self-made millionaire who vanquished three more experienced Republican figures to put the keys to the Blaine House within reach.
The remainder of the series rolls out like this: Democratic nominee Janet Mills (on Sept. 16); independent Alan Caron (on Sept. 23); and independent Terry Hayes (on Sept. 30.) [Updated this with links as available.]
Hope you enjoy.
I last wrote detailed profiles of Maine statewide candidates for the Press Herald during the 2012 US Senate race, which was won by Angus King (I), currently Maine’s junior senator.
COLIN WOODARD is a New York Times bestselling author, historian and award-winning journalist. He is the author of seven books that have been translated into a dozen foreign languages and inspired an NBC television drama. He is currently Director of Nationhood Lab at the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Affairs at Salve Regina University. As State and National Affairs Writer at Maine's Portland Press Herald, he won a 2012 George Polk Award and was a finalist for a 2016 Pulitzer Prize. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, The Economist, Smithsonian and dozens of other major publications.