2014 Maine Governor's race: on Jobs

Paul LePage: Are low-wage call-center jobs the kind we want?

The starting wage at NexxLinx is between $8.50 and $9 per hour, plus incentives. That amounts to about $19,000 per year for employees who work 40 hours per week.

"People can cry and holler all they want, but if we don't reduce energy costs, we're going to have two Maines," LePage said. The other Maine, he said, is in the south, where there are higher-wage jobs. [A Nexxlink spokesman said the issue was finding good workers, not energy costs.]

Paul LePage: Vetoed incrementally raising the state's minimum wage

All of those governors won a first term in the national Republican sweep of 2010, and most have had strong Republican representation in their legislatures to support them. But LePage was tasked with facing a Democrat-controlled legislature, and in July he vetoed a bill to incrementally raise the state's minimum wage.

For his likely Democratic challenger, Rep. Mike Michaud, increasing the minimum wage is an issue the onetime paper mill worker from northern Maine discusses often, said a campaign adviser. "He is closely aligned with working- and middle-class families," Farmer said. "He's not a millionaire.

Mike Michaud: AdWatch: Unions endorse Michaud "to represent Maine workers"

"We defend the right of Maine workers to have a voice in their wages, benefits and working conditions," said a union leader. "Together, we will move forward to address common legislative issues such as the urgent need to accept federal funds to expand health-care coverage and to elect a governor who represents Maine workers. We are united in supporting Congressman Mike Michaud as Maine's next governor."

"This really proves that the unions have lost their moorings as to what their purpose is," said a Maine GOP spokesman. "Their first order of business is electing Mike Michaud, who will raise taxes and hurt small businesses. It's pretty clear that this is nothing more than a new political action committee funded by forcing Maine people to pay out of their paychecks."

Eliot Cutler: Zealously guard against interference in unionization efforts

A: I have always supported and will always protect the right of workers to form and to join unions, and I have witnessed the important contributions that unions have made for decades in scores of Maine communities. I will zealously guard against interference in the process through which workers are permitted to decide whether to organize or not.

My goal as Governor will be to create the conditions that will encourage investment and economic activity in our state, so that we can begin creating jobs again for all Maine workers, whether union or non-union. Our problem is not that we don't have clear rules for forming a union; our problem is that Maine's economy has been at a standstill for more than a decade