During his second visit to Maine this year, Vice President JD Vance rallied for Maine Republicans and against “socialism” ahead of the midterm elections. 

At defense manufacturer Compotech on Monday, Vance cast Republicans U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and congressional candidate Paul LePage as independent voices, aiding their efforts to distance themselves from President Donald Trump’s administration as they campaign. 

But the vice president ultimately touted them both, as well as Republican gubernatorial nominee Bobby Charles, as friends of the administration. Mostly, his praise went toward LePage, who is running to replace Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden in the 2nd District. 

“I’m going to say very simply, my friends, everything that we’ve accomplished over the past couple of years, it could be undone if you send a lot of crazy people to Congress to fight against us,” Vance told the crowd gathered in Brewer. “What I’m asking is that you send an independent voice, a voice for Maine, you send somebody who’s going to fight for you and against the fraud. Send Paul LePage to Congress, and let’s get to work to save our country.”

Like other previous visits from Trump administration officials, Vance spent a portion of his speech focused on allegations of fraud in Maine’s Medicaid system.

He said he doesn’t want anti-fraud work to become partisan and that “some people” in the administration of Gov. Janet Mills have been responsive to the White House’s efforts to crack down on abuse.

“But I hate to say it, that after a few months of working with these guys, I don’t have a great amount of confidence that they’re going to lean into this anti-fraud effort,” Vance said. “And I think the problem is that their incompetence — or their something worse — is one of the reasons why Maine has become such a capital of fraud, and particularly it’s a lot of healthcare fraud.”

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services has disputed claims that the agency is not cracking down on fraud, announcing earlier this month that it suspended payments to five providers and terminated two providers’ contracts for subjecting residents to serious health risks and unsafe conditions. 

Mehmet Oz, administrator of the U.S. Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, also visited Maine earlier this month, during which he did not meet with state officials but instead appeared in a video alongside LePage criticizing the state for its handling of the issue.

Vance also tied the issue of fraud directly to LePage’s campaign, and said during his time as governor, LePage came down hard on fraud, and would continue to do so in Congress. 

“Paul LePage has been the biggest advocate in state or federal government anywhere in the state of Maine at protecting your tax dollars and protecting these programs,” Vance said. “It’s one of the reasons why we’ve got to get Paul LePage to Congress. I need the help, ladies and gentlemen. You got to send Paul to help me.” 

While in office, LePage oversaw an overhaul of the state’s income taxes as well as dramatic cuts to the state’s healthcare programs, significantly reducing coverage for low-come adults. 

He vetoed five bills that would have expanded MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program. And after voters in 2017 approved a referendum to expand MaineCare with 59% support, LePage refused to implement it. 

Vance also took the opportunity to criticize LePage’s Democratic opponent, state auditor Matt Dunlap. The vice president criticized Dunlap for “failing the auditor exam.”

In 2021, Dunlap stepped down as state auditor after he failed to pass two accounting tests, preventing him from securing a key certification within the eligibility window. Jacob Norton filled the position, but also resigned shortly after he failed to get his auditing certification. Dunlap passed the exams after his 2021 resignation, and returned as state auditor in 2022. 

“And for Matt Dunlap, if you’ve got a guy who cannot protect your tax dollars from fraudsters who has turned your state into one of the fraud capitals of the United States of America, maybe you should be saying to Matt Dunlap, ‘You’re fired,’ not promoted to the United States Congress,” Vance said. 

Vance also repeatedly hit Democrats for their embrace of what he referred to as “socialism,” likely a reference to more progressive candidates — some with connections to the Democratic Socialists of America — winning Democratic primaries in Maine and elsewhere.

“The Democrats are running a very corrupt game, which is they’re trying to tear down this country, tear down our young people, tear down our military, and what’s left over with the ashes of what they’ve torn down is socialism,” Vance said. 

“But I got to say that what we’re doing, it’s not just a two-year or even a four-year process,” Vance said. “Think about this: this country was plundered over a generation. Our goal is to reverse a consensus that has screwed over communities like this one for decades.”

Collins has also made similar pitches as to why Mainers shouldn’t support her rival, Democratic nominee Troy Jackson, calling him a “Bernie bro”, referring to independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. 

While Collins did not get as much airtime in Vance’s speech, the vice president called her “our very independent friend” — echoing how she’s pitching herself on the campaign trail, even though she did not attend Monday’s event. 

The word “bipartisan” appears 2,651 times on her website. However, the senior senator has voted with Trump about 95% of the time. 

But, that is one of the lowest ratings among Republican senators, which Vance alluded to in his remarks on Monday. He said Collins “sometimes makes my job just a little bit harder” because “she is coming to work every single day and fighting not for a political party or not for any abstraction. She comes to work every single day and she fights for the great people of Maine.”

Collins’ Democratic critics often argue she only breaks with her party when her vote isn’t consequential. 

A Bangor Daily News analysis of Collins’ votes confirmed that she rarely casts deciding votes against Republicans. At the same time, it found that she has cast more of those votes than anyone else in the chamber.

Charles did not attend Monday’s event either, but received a brief shoutout from the vice president for his previous work in numerous federal government positions, such as at the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, though the effectiveness of that work has been disputed. 

“He has been an amazing fighter for the state of Maine,” Vance said. “He’s going to make a more amazing governor for the state of Maine.”

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