LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — A Republican congressional hopeful in Maine’s competitive election campaign is spreading misinformation about the state’s housing policy, a public housing official said.
Former Rep. Bruce Polikin is challenging Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, who narrowly defeated Republicans in 2018. Immigrants staying illegally in the country.
Polyquin, whose campaign has focused on issues such as reducing immigration and protecting gun rights, used the anecdote as part of a call for stronger border security.
The Maine Board of Public Housing on Thursday did not name the candidate, but issued a statement to the Bangor Daily News in response to his remarks, condemning the story. says. “Such misinformation undermines trust in the public housing system, upon which many individuals and families depend on safe, quality, and affordable housing, and should not be left uncorrected. you can’t.”
Eligibility for federal housing assistance is limited to U.S. citizens and noncitizens with eligible immigration status, federal regulations say.
Polikin said in an interview with WCSH-TV that he met the woman at an event in Lewiston. He said she was at the top of the list to get an apartment, but told him she was “below the list because people came to the country illegally.”
A Poliquin spokesperson, Roy Mathews, said on Friday that the story was real, but offered no evidence to support it.
“Bruce was enhancing the voice of this middle-aged homeless woman and her experience with the need for available housing in Maine,” he said. ”
Since the 2018 election, the appeal of Trump-style politics has grown in the district, despite being led by moderate Democratic Party candidate Golden. Polikin, who represented the Second District as a moderate Republican from 2014 to his 2018, sought to capitalize on these headwinds by shifting his message to the right.
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