Matt Dunlap, the Democrat and State Auditor running for the House in Maine's 2nd Congressional, was not his party's choice for a candidate. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and others didn't want Dunlap to run to replace outgoing Rep. Jared Golden, and it's easy to see why: Dunlap's agenda and record are too extreme for Maine.
But Dunlap is the nominee, and his record is now a problem for Democrats. Not only did Dunlap continue standing by Graham Platner after Platner's Senate campaign imploded following a slew of horrific allegations, including allegations of domestic abuse and sexual assault, but Dunlap also wants to make sure so-called "gender-affirming care" is made a Constitutional right, and increasing gas taxes for hard working Mainers.
Now Matt Dunlap thinks he can rewrite history to hide his radical agenda and lie to attack his Republican opponent, Paul LePage.
That starts with Dunlap trying to fool Mainers' about LePage's record on healthcare. Dunlap and outside groups falsely claim LePage cut the number of Maine nurses in half, allowed hospitals to collapse, and "hurt Maine patients."
None of this is true. In 2002, Gov. LePage saved hospitals across Maine after the state began paying hospitals less than what they were owed for services given to MaineCare recipients in 2002, when Angus King was governor. LePage took office in 2011 and by 2013, the amount the state owed to hospitals had ballooned to $484 million; this debt meant hospitals risked layoffs across the state, which would have decreased the $270 million impact that healthcare workers had on local economies. In January 2013, LePage announced that the state would pay off the state's hospital debt and signed a bill to do so later that year. LePage did this without raising taxes on Maine families.
Matt Dunlap, on the other hand, would be a disaster for Maine's healthcare system and its economy. As State Auditor, Dunlap missed millions of dollars in fraud in the state's Medicaid program. He also supports socialized, government-run healthcare, which would decrease Mainers' access to healthcare and require trillions in new taxes on low- and middle-income families.
But healthcare isn't the only area in which Dunlap is a far-left radical. He's in bed with the Left on other extreme positions. The same outside group attacking Paul LePage on healthcare wants to defund the police. One of the validators in that ad, Erin Oberson, posted a photo on Instagram featuring Dunlap holding an "abolish ICE" sign. Oberson also posted an image that said "a group of men is called a danger," and she was arrested for staging a sit-in at Sen. Susan Collins' office. Another woman featured in that ad spoke at an Indivisible Lincoln County rally, and the organization's local chapter compared the U.S. to Nazi Germany, and called Israel's military offensive against Hamas a "holocaust."
The bottom line is this: Paul LePage saved Maine's hospitals and secured access to care for Mainers across the state. Matt Dunlap, on the other hand, would be a rubber stamp for the far-left's radical policies, undermine their access to healthcare, and cater to a dangerous anti-law enforcement agenda.
"Incompetent radical Matt Dunlap can lie all he wants, but he can't change the truth: Paul LePage kept hospitals open, ensured Mainers had access to care, and he did it all without raising taxes a single cent," said NRCC spokeswoman Maureen O'Toole. "Meanwhile, Matt Dunlap is in bed with the extreme Left. From defunding the police to socialist, government-run healthcare, Dunlap wants to implement politics that are completely out of touch with Mainers' values and would be a disaster for their safety and well-being."