Matt Dunlap questions Paul LePage’s Maine residency, citing Florida home and homestead exemptions

ORONO, Maine (WABI) - Democratic 2nd Congressional District Candidate Matt Dunlap is calling into question the residency history of Republican candidate Paul LePage and his commitment to Maine.

Dunlap shared documents that show LePage and his wife have owned a home in Florida since 2018 after finishing his term as governor and claimed a homestead exemption each year through 2025.

Last year, LePage registered to vote using the address of a rented apartment in Augusta a few weeks before he announced he was running for Congress.

Dunlap says while all this doesn’t disqualify LePage from running, he raises the issue of LePage’s intention to stay in Maine full-time.

“Maine voters are entitled to a representative whose feet are actually on the ground here, whose property taxes pay for our schools, our roads, our first responders, whose home -- the place where you go where the cameras are off -- is actually in the state that he’s asking to represent,” said Dunlap.

In a statement, LePage advisor Brent Littlefield called Dunlap’s press conference a stunt.

“Liberal activist Matt Dunlap is so desperate for attention on the eve of his primary that he is falsely attacking Governor LePage,” said Littlefield, “Paul and Ann are Mainers, are Maine residents, and did a phenomenal job as Governor and First Lady improving Maine’s economy and lifting up Maine Veterans.”

Littlefield says since the purchase of the Florida property, LePage and his wife have never spent an entire year living exclusively outside of Maine. He also says the LePage’s are part-owners of family property in Washington County.