Maine Governor Stuns With Sexist Remark About Women & Finances (Video)

Maine Governor Paul LePage attended a town hall meeting on Wednesday – which was also happened to be Back to The Future day – and when he was asked a question about election transparency, he decided to go all knuckle-dragging caveman.

The question was about a citizen initiative to increase election transparency and strengthen Maine’s Clean Elections Act.

LePage replied with: “That’s like giving my wife my checkbook. I’m telling you, it’s giving your wife your checkbook.”

LePage’s stunningly sexist remark was met with a few chuckles from the audience and was in reference to the part of the initiative strengthening Maine’s system of limited public financing. Candidates qualify for the program by collecting a number of small contributions from voters and agreeing to limit their spending.

Not surprisingly, the “little ladies” of Maine weren’t too thrilled with the misogyny spewing from the governor, “The governor’s attitude toward women, toward relationships and toward money are so dated as to be bizarre,” said Eliza Townsend, executive director of the Maine Women’s Lobby in response to the comment. “The Maine Women’s Lobby supports Question 1 because we know that a legislature made up of Mainers with a variety of backgrounds and experiences will make better decisions for all of us.”

Clean Elections specifically benefits women candidates. A 2003 survey of candidates by the Maine Citizen Leadership Fund revealed that access to the public financing option was an important factor for women when deciding to run for public office.

In fact, 42 percent of female candidates surveyed said they would not have run for office without Clean Elections.

Maybe because they were too busy with hubby’s checkbook and worrying about what dish detergent to buy.

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