AUGUSTA — Democrats on the Legislature’s Education Committee rejected Gov. Paul LePage’s nomination of Susan Dench to the University of Maine System board of trustees after a contentious hearing on Friday.
The 8-6 party-line vote goes to the full Senate on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
Dench, of Falmouth, is a marketing professional and former conservative blogger for the Bangor Daily News. She was heavily criticized during Friday’s hearing for her conservative views on gender roles. An English professor from the University of Southern Maine also presented evidence she said proved Dench committed plagiarism in one of her BDN columns.
Dench told committee members that she stands by her public views, and after the hearing told the BDN she denied the plagiarism.
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Susan Dench
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