AUGUSTA — Some Ron Paul supporters, acknowledging defeat within their own party at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., returned to Maine on Wednesday, and others planned to duck the big crowning events.

But one of the Paul activists said their work is not done even though their time to make a stand for the Texas congressman is over.

“There’s nothing more except we can come back to Maine and work at the grassroots level,” said Belfast resident Matt McDonald, who was among the 20 people elected during May’s state convention as a national delegate and one of the 10 to lose his seat by national party order.

The 10 Paul delegates were included in Maine’s roll call vote Tuesday, and there were 14 for Mitt Romney, the party’s presidential candidate. The loss of seats prompted some of the Paul delegates to walk out of the convention and wear clothespins on their noses. On Wednesday, two of the Paul supporters left for Maine, some gave up their credentials and some planned to sit out the evening’s events, McDonald said.

Paul delegation chair Brent Tweed said Paul supporters planned to stay in the convention hall for a speech by his son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a tea party favorite, but depart before a speech by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the vice presidential candidate, Tweed said.

The Paul supporters said their next priority is to restyle the Maine party by filling Republican county and state committee posts with “liberty-leaning individuals” and work to elect like-minded people.

“We’re encouraging people to use this as a way to energize our base and not leave the Republican Party,” Tweed said.

One candidate who would be likely to win the Paul crowd’s support is GOP Gov. Paul LePage, McDonald said.

LePage, while saying he would support Romney, decided to skip Tampa, keeping true to his earlier statement that all the delegates elected at the state convention should have been seated.

LePage, who’s expected to run for a second term in 2014, is vacationing with his family elsewhere in Florida, where he has a home, press secretary Adrienne Bennett said. He’s due to return to Maine on Saturday.

Maine GOP Chairman Charles Webster said the Ron Paul energy expressed by his Maine supporters won’t affect the slate of candidates running in this fall’s legislative or other state elections. He was unmoved knowing that some delegates would sit out Wednesday evening’s convention events, saying that the majority of Maine delegates would be there. He also said it was time for the Paul people to admit their loss and get behind Romney, a former Massachusetts governor.

“A lot of people feel it’s OK to fight for your guy, but once your guy has lost, move on,” said Webster, who supported former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum earlier in the campaign but now supports Romney.

Webster said Romney undoubtedly has more support than Paul among Maine Republicans.

“The fact that he was able to get more people to the (state) convention doesn’t mean he has the support of a majority of the people,” Webster said.

 

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