Wife of US' Worst-Paid Governor Is Waiting Tables

Ann LePage bounded with a cup of chowder and a plate of fish and broccoli, in her first double shift at McSeagull's, a bustling restaurant touting double-wrapped bacon scallops and views of Boothbay Harbor. The wife of Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage had kept a low profile for the first few weeks of her summer job, reports the AP. But then her husband told a recent town hall that his wife took a job to "supplement" his $70,000 salary, the lowest of any US governor. The LePages live with their dog, a Jack Russell terrier mix named Veto, in the Augusta governor's mansion and bought a $215,000 Boothbay home two years ago. The governor recently tried but failed to increase his successor's salary to $150,000, above the nearly $135,000 average for all 50 governors in 2015.

Ann LePage said being a waitress is "something I've always, always wanted to do." Her daughter Lauren made $28 an hour last summer at McSeagull's. LePage said she spent years taking care of her mother, who passed away in October. "I know she'd be proud of me," LePage says, adding that she's saving up for a Toyota RAV4, works three days a week, and is asking for more shifts. "Because of who I am and who I'm married to, I want to work extra hard just so I can show them I can do the job," she said. Her general manager tells CNN that "we didn't really tell anybody who she was. She is the governor's wife, but she has a lot of fans in this state." The first lady is not going unnoticed: "I really hate a lot of our politicians nowadays that have the wealth, the money," says one customer. "They have no clue what the average person out in the world is doing." Adds another: "It's the best of Maine, the best of who we are. Two feet on the ground." (More Ann LePage stories.)