Editing Stephen King (section)

===Maine politics===
King endorsed [[Shenna Bellows]] in the [[2014 United States Senate election in Maine|2014 U.S. Senate election]] for the seat held by [[Maine Republican Party|Republican]] [[Susan Collins]].<ref>{{cite web |author=King, Stephen |url=http://bangordailynews.com/2014/05/29/opinion/for-this-lifetime-mainer-bellows-is-the-clear-choice/ |title=For this lifetime Mainer, Bellows is the clear choice |newspaper=Bangor Daily News |date=May 30, 2014 |access-date=May 30, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140530070315/http://bangordailynews.com/2014/05/29/opinion/for-this-lifetime-mainer-bellows-is-the-clear-choice/ |archive-date=May 30, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> King publicly criticized [[Paul LePage]] during LePage's tenure as [[Governor of Maine]], referring to him as one of [[The Three Stooges]] (with then-[[Governor of Florida|Florida Governor]] [[Rick Scott]] and then-[[Governor of Wisconsin|Wisconsin Governor]] [[Scott Walker (politician)|Scott Walker]] being the other two).<ref name="stooges" /> He was critical of LePage for incorrectly suggesting in a 2015 radio address that King avoided paying Maine income taxes by living out of state for part of the year. The statement was later corrected by the governor's office, but no apology was issued. King said LePage was "full of the stuff that makes the grass grow green"<ref>{{cite news |last=Mistler |first=Steve |title=Stephen King calls out LePage on erroneous tax statements |url=http://www.centralmaine.com/2015/03/20/stephen-king-calls-out-lepage-on-erroneous-tax-statements/ |newspaper=Kennebec Journal |date=March 20, 2015 |access-date=March 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150322234500/http://www.centralmaine.com/2015/03/20/stephen-king-calls-out-lepage-on-erroneous-tax-statements/ |archive-date=March 22, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> and demanded that LePage "man up and apologize".<ref>{{cite news |last=Mistler |first=Steve |title=King to LePage: 'Man up and apologize'|url=http://contributors.pressherald.com/politics/capitol-ticker/king-to-lepage-man-up-and-apologize/ |newspaper=Kennebec Journal |date=March 20, 2015 |access-date=March 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150322104045/http://contributors.pressherald.com/politics/capitol-ticker/king-to-lepage-man-up-and-apologize/ |archive-date=March 22, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> LePage declined to apologize to King, stating, "I never said Stephen King did not pay income taxes. What I said was, Stephen King's not in Maine right now. That's what I said."<ref>{{cite news |last=Mistler |first=Steve |title=LePage crashes local budget forum, denies saying Stephen King doesn't pay taxes |url=http://contributors.pressherald.com/politics/capitol-ticker/lepage-crashes-local-democrats-budget-forum-denies-he-said-stephen-king-doesnt-pay-taxes/ |newspaper=Portland Press Herald |date=March 26, 2015 |access-date=March 26, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150328191801/http://contributors.pressherald.com/politics/capitol-ticker/lepage-crashes-local-democrats-budget-forum-denies-he-said-stephen-king-doesnt-pay-taxes/ |archive-date=March 28, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The attention garnered by the LePage criticism led to efforts to encourage King to run for Governor of Maine in [[2018 Maine gubernatorial election|2018]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://stateandcapitol.bangordailynews.com/2015/03/23/stephen-king-for-governor-horror-story-or-best-seller/ |title=Stephen King for governor: Horror story or best seller? |newspaper=Bangor Daily News |first=Christopher |last=Cousins |date=March 23, 2015 |access-date=March 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325191116/http://stateandcapitol.bangordailynews.com/2015/03/23/stephen-king-for-governor-horror-story-or-best-seller/ |archive-date=March 25, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> King said he would not run or serve.<ref name=kingno>{{cite news |url=http://stateandcapitol.bangordailynews.com/2015/03/23/update-king-continues-attack-on-lepage-says-i-will-not-run-for-governor/ |title=UPDATE: King continues attack on LePage, says 'I will not run' for governor |newspaper=Bangor Daily News |first=Christopher |last=Cousins |date=March 23, 2015 |access-date=March 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326193820/http://stateandcapitol.bangordailynews.com/2015/03/23/update-king-continues-attack-on-lepage-says-i-will-not-run-for-governor/ |archive-date=March 26, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> King sent a tweet on June 30, 2015, calling LePage "a terrible embarrassment to the state I live in and love. If he won't govern, he should resign." He later clarified that he was not calling on LePage to resign, but to "go to work or go back home".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://hashtagmaine.bangordailynews.com/2015/07/01/reddit/stephen-king-joins-call-for-lepage-to-resign/ |title=Stephen King joins call for LePage to resign |newspaper=Bangor Daily News |first=Erin |last=Rhoda |date=July 1, 2015 |access-date=July 1, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701205647/https://hashtagmaine.bangordailynews.com/2015/07/01/reddit/stephen-king-joins-call-for-lepage-to-resign/ |archive-date=July 1, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> On August 27, 2016, King called LePage "a bigot, a homophobe, and a racist".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2016/08/28/maines-stephen-king-says-gov-paul-lepage-is-a-bigot-a-homophobe-and-a-racist/ |title=Maine's Stephen King says Gov. Paul LePage 'is a bigot, a homophobe, and a racist' |publisher=Boston.com |first=Nik |last=DeCosta-Klipa |date=August 28, 2016 |access-date=September 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160831181647/http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2016/08/28/maines-stephen-king-says-gov-paul-lepage-is-a-bigot-a-homophobe-and-a-racist |archive-date=August 31, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>