AUGUSTA, Maine, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Maine Rep. Mike Michaud, a six-term congressman and candidate for governor in 2014, confirmed longtime rumors he's gay.
Michaud, 57, will be the Democratic candidate in what's expected to be a three-way race for governor. If he were to win, Michaud would be the first openly gay governor in the nation's history, the Portland Press-Herald reported Monday.
In an op-ed to Maine media outlets, Michaud said he's gay but the issue would not come to define his candidacy. He said the admission comes after "the whisper campaigns, insinuations and push polls" unidentified people were using against him in the campaign.
"They want people to question whether I am gay," Michaud said. "Allow me to save them the trouble with a simple, honest answer: 'Yes I am. But why should it matter?'"
Political science professors wondered precisely the same thing. While Michaud's coming out will certainly help him raise campaign funds from gay and lesbian national groups it could also spur fundraising for his Republican opponent, Gov. Paul Lepage.
Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said being gay is far less of a problem for his campaign than is a third candidate on the ballot, a left-leaning independent Eliot Cutler, who could siphon away votes from Michaud.
"His problem is not that he's gay; it's Eliot Cutler," Sabato said.
