WATERVILLE, Maine (NEWS CENTER Maine) --
Brain drain is a topic we hear about a lot in Maine.
News Center Maine's Dustin Wlodkowski met up with a Mainer who has a unique experience with that topic.
Governor Paul LePage’s daughter, Lauren, never expected to return home to Maine to pursue a career in public policy.
“The thing I least expected to do is work in the Governor’s office,” said Lauren, especially when your dad’s the governor.”
The governor’s daughter met Dustin at Governor’s on Superbowl Sunday, an appropriate location since Lauren LePage worked on policy in her father’s office for years and is now working for Shawn Moody’s campaign.
Lauren, is in her early thirties now, living a life wouldn’t have imagined even eight years ago.
That’s when she was wrapping up her time getting a bachelor’s degree at Florida State University.
LePage thought she thought she was headed to med school.
Instead, she was swept up in a whirlwind and wound up working on her father’s gubernatorial campaign.
In 2011, Paul LePage became Maine’s governor and Lauren joined his team in Augusta.
“I like to say I spent my twenties basically being 40, and witnessed sort of the process of how things work,” she said.
LePage says she’s lucky she was able to carve a career out in Maine, something she thinks people her age aren’t always optimistic about.
“I think there is that sort of perception that there are bigger and better places outside of Maine, especially for young people.” .
Even LePage’s own brother decided a career opportunity in Florida was better than any job he could find in Maine.
The governor’s daughter believes Maine’s government needs to target people like her brother as likely candidates to move back to combat Maine’s aging population.
While she’s very close with her brother, brain drain is a topic Lauren and her father spend a lot of time talking about too.
She says the governor is usually on the same wavelength as her but for various reasons on various topics, like differences in between younger and older people, dad and daughter don’t always see eye to eye.
“There are times we’re speaking a foreign language to each other,” she admitted.
LePage says her father, like some parents, doesn’t always relate well to people his daughter’s age.
He will, however, usually hear Lauren out when they disagree and occasionally, change his mind, to the surprise of his own family.
“He’s the kind of guy where you have a conversation with him and you don’t think he’s listening but he’s listening so there have been a couple conversations in the office where I would go in. We’d have a discussion. Sometimes a heated discussion and I wouldn’t think he was listening but he listens,” Lauren said.
Whatever the disagreement or discussion, the LePage’s are likely to have it in person, as a family since Lauren admitted her dad doesn’t “group text” his kids.
The LePages are going to have plenty to talk about this year.
Governor LePage's term ends in 11 months.
So far, he's gone back and forth about his future, including whether or not he'd run against Angus King for senate.
No matter what, that issue of bringing young people to Maine is expected to be an important one in the coming election for both Democrats and Republicans.