Westbrook, MAINE – Silent Shawn Moody was back in full force last night during NEWS CENTER Maine’s Republican gubernatorial debate, but now Silent Shawn’s continued refusal to answer questions has his Republican opponents criticizing him too.

Moody, the owner of a chain of auto-body repair shops, has made a bad habit of not answering even the most basic questions asked of him -- and last night proved to be no exception. Silent Shawn was asked about how he will deal with voter-approved Medicaid expansion (which he opposes) if elected governor, but rather than answer directly as the other candidates had, Silent Shawn pivoted back to a response about the citizens’ referendum process that he paid his D.C. consultant a lot of money to tell him to say.

And Republican candidate Ken Fredette had had enough of Moody’s dodges:

         “I didn’t really hear how Shawn was going to deal with Medicaid expansion,” Fredette said. “He pivoted off to the referendum process, but how’re you going to deal with Medicaid expansion?”

Silent Shawn deflected again, saying it was up to the Legislature, but that lack of an answer prompted the moderator to press Moody on the question: “But it will be your job, assuming this thing hasn’t been repealed by the legislature before January, if you’re governor, it exists, what do you do about it?”

Republican candidate Garrett Mason also chimed in:

         “Shawn, you have a great business, and Mary said this the other night, we want more Moody’s Collision Centers – but you have to deal with the issues in front of us. You can’t pivot always to your business background. We have to be able to deal with real, solid issues and this is an example of how you cannot answer the question.”

But Medicaid expansion wasn’t the only issue that Moody refused to deal with during the debate. Silent Shawn also refused to answer a question about how he would deal with the legalization of marijuana as governor, deciding to instead take aim at the referendum process. His deflection once again forced the moderator to press him on it, asking, “But, again, it exists, it’s been enacted, how do you deal with it?”

Moody’s answer: “Again, you’re going to have to ask these guys”, gesturing to Fredette and Mason. Fredette called Silent Shawn out again:

“Shawn didn’t really answer the question…”

Maine Democratic Party Chairman Phil Bartlett released the following statement in response:

“Shawn Moody claims to be an outsider, but his real game is to duck every serious question posed to him during this campaign, and even Republicans are beginning to take issue. It’s really not unreasonable to ask him to be upfront with the people of Maine by answering their questions directly. I know Moody likes to portray himself as four more years of Paul LePage, but at least LePage told us where he stood on issues instead of ducking them like Moody.”

Keeping Up With Silent Shawn Moody

05/09/18: “During a discussion around how candidates would fund Medicaid expansion, which is something they all oppose, Moody didn’t say how he would fund it […] ‘We’re just asking you, ‘How do you fund it?’’ House Minority Leader Ken Fredette chimed in.Moody then returned to a Republican talking point on the end of the session […].”

04/07/18: “Gorham businessman Shawn Moody, who ran as an independent for governor in 2010 and got 5 percent of the vote, issued a statement through his campaign spokeswoman that didn’t address his position on the issue.”

02/25/18: “Only one of the 14 candidates, Republican Shawn Moody of Gorham, declined to answer any of the questions despite repeated requests and, instead, released a generic statement asserting his support for the Second Amendment while calling for a community resource officer in every school.”

02/11/18: “All the candidates but Moody said they would support whoever the Republican nominee for governor in the fall is. Moody meanwhile didn’t answer the question specifically, but said the goal is to sweep the House, Senate and Blaine House for Republicans.”

01/26/18: “With the exception of Shawn Moody, the candidates said they didn’t understand the delay, and several said they would release the rules.”

01/19/18: “Another Republican candidate for governor, businessman Shawn Moody of Gorham, finally issued a statementThursday but still failed to answer the question of whether he would approve the rules.”

01/10/18: “Two other Republican candidates for governor, Mary Mayhew, LePage’s former commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services, and Gorham businessman Shawn Moody, did not respond to requests for comment.”

11/21/17: “His campaign, however, is being run by insiders close to LePage, including Brent Littlefield, a strategist who ran LePage’s 2010 and 2014 bids, and Lauren LePage, the governor’s daughter. Moody didn’t take questions from the assembled media after his speech.”

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