Rep. Jeffrey Evangelos (I-Friendship), and a group of other legislators delivered a letter to Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap on Tuesday, asking him to refer the question of Gov. Paul LePage’s ‘fitness to serve’ to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

The request comes on the heels of LePage’s profanity-laced voicemail left for Rep. Drew Gattine of Westbrook, and racial references about those arrested for drug dealing in Maine.

The legislators’ letter reads in part, “We the undersigned members of the Maine Legislature hereby formally request that you exercise the mental ‘competency’ clause of the Maine Constitution for the purpose of having the Maine Supreme Court conduct a hearing and evaluate  Governor LePage's inability to discharge the duties of Governor of the State of Maine.”

The letter goes on to highlight the part of the Maine Constitution that deals with issues such as mental or physical inability to carry out the functions of the governorship. The section of the Constitution dealing with such a crisis can be found in Article Five, Part 1, Section 15, which reads:

"When the Secretary of State shall have reason to believe that the Governor is unable to discharge the duties of that office, the Secretary of State may so certify to the Supreme Judicial Court, declaring the reason for such belief. After notice to the Governor, a hearing before the court and a decision by a majority of the court that the Governor is unable to discharge the duties of the office of Governor, the court shall notify the President of the Senate, or if that office is vacant the Speaker of the House of Representatives, of such inability and that officer shall exercise the functions, powers and duties of the office of Governor until such time as the Secretary of State or the Governor shall certify to the court that the Governor is able to discharge the duties of the office of Governor and the court, after notice to the Governor and a hearing before the court, decides that the Governor is able to discharge the duties of that office and so notifies the officer who is exercising the powers and duties of the office of Governor."

Evangelos, who is retiring at the end of his current term, said in a phone interview that it was clear to him that the Legislature was not going to go into a special session to address the issue, so he felt it necessary to invoke the Constitutional option.

The letter goes on:

“Mr. Secretary, we the undersigned believe there are more than reasonable grounds to invoke this clause of the Maine Constitution to examine mental health issues and possible substance abuse issues that prevent Governor Paul LePage from undertaking his duties as prescribed in his oath of office. Governor LePage has made repeated threats of violence against sitting Legislators and members of the public. He recently was recorded on tape in what can only be described as a drunken rage, denigrating a member of the House of Representatives, followed by threats to reporters that he wanted to point a gun "right between his (Rep. Gattine's) eyes."

Evangelos said that if this was a single incident, it might have been forgiven, but that “Governor LePage's abuse of power has included a continuous stream of profane and violent statements that run counter to his duty to maintain public safety for all Maine's people.”

The letter refers to a number of statements including one to a group of high school students who included the son of cartoonist George Danby. According to the letter, LePage said he would like to shoot Danby. The letter also states that LePage has encouraged vigilantism, such as when he said in January that because Maine has constitutional carry, citizens could “Load up and get rid of drug dealers.” Evangelos also points out that the nation’s history, as well as the world’s, is punctuated by violent overthrows and political assassinations, often begun by violent words.

“While our Legislative leaders have universally condemned Governor LePage's promotion of political violence and irresponsible statements, leaders from both major political parties are hopelessly deadlocked about how to proceed with holding Governor LePage accountable for his irrational behavior. Therefore it is incumbent that we the undersigned Legislators formally request the intervention of the Secretary of State to empower the Maine Supreme Court to conduct a full review and hearing before the court to determine whether Paul LePage is mentally fit to serve our State as Governor,” the letter concludes.

Evangelos said he had not yet heard anything from Dunlap, nor did he expect to receive anything but an acknowledgement that the letter had been received. At the Wiscasset Newspaper’s request, Dunlop emailed a copy of the letter. He had no comment on the letter.

“It’s best to put this into the hands of the Judicial Branch,” Evangelos said.

Evangelos is representative for District 91, serving Waldoboro, Friendship, Washington, and part of Union. In addition to Evangelos, signers to the letter included Senator David Miramant, Rep. Kimberly Monaghan, Rep. Janice Cooper, and Rep. Ben Chipman.

A call to a LePage spokeswoman Tuesday afternoon was not immediately returned.