One of the governors visiting the Portland area this week for the National Governors’ Association summer meetings, New Hampshire's Chris Sununu, took time during his visit on Wednesday to campaign with fellow Republican Paul LePage.LePage is challenging incumbent Democrat Janet Mills to serve as Maine’s governor again.After touring Messer Truck Equipment together in Westbrook, Sununu backed LePage's call for income tax cuts to spur economic growth. “It’s not just policy, but it’s about management, understanding the details, doing the math, and the concept of actually, you know, lowering and even getting rid of an income tax,” Sununu told reporters. "Maybe the best way to fight inflation is to not take your money in the first place."New Hampshire has no state income tax, something LePage wants to emulate if elected Maine's governor again in this year's race against incumbent Democrat Janet Mills."In 2011, we lowered the income tax – in 2012, the best year we ever had in revenues," LePage told reporters, referring to the first of his two terms in Augusta. "If you take a tax and you give it back to a person, they will spend 96 cents of that dollar immediately in the economy, so the other side of your economy grows."Mills has not raised a single tax as governor, but state spending has increased 20% under her watch, from $7.2 billion over the two-year budget cycle to $8.7 billion. At the same time, the state’s “rainy day fund” has doubled during her term to a record $493 million.LePage rejected Mills’ decision to refund 60% of this year's revenue surplus to state taxpayers in $850 relief checks, originally a Republican idea in the state legislature.LePage said, "The $850 checks amount to $729 million, which is 40% of the income tax. She could have reduced the income tax by 40%, move on, and that would be going on year after year after year."In a written reply, Mills Campaign Manager Alexandra Raposo said, “The $850 relief checks – which Paul LePage wrongly called ‘a gimmick’ and the ‘worst thing we could do’ – passed with bipartisan support and is one of the strongest relief measures of any state in the nation. It also provides Maine people with the freedom to decide how best to use that money in their lives.”Sununu and LePage pointed to data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis showing in last quarter of 2021 and first quarter of 2022, New Hampshire's gross domestic product grew by 1.2%, while Maine's shrank 1.3%.“There’s no reason Maine should really be on any different track than New Hampshire, but policy matters," Sununu said."We still have a 4% unemployment rate," LePage said. That was an overstatement; Maine's unemployment rate went down to 3.2% in May, close to its pre-pandemic low, though not as low as New Hampshire's current 2.9% rate. Both states are below the national rate of 3.6%.Maine sent out 2,500 unemployment insurance payments last week, while New Hampshire sent 1,800. (Each has a population of 1.3 to 1.4 million).LePage slightly overstated the difference in the civilian labor force participation rate during his tenure and Mills’.“When I left three years ago, three-and-half years ago, the work participation rate was 66%. We were well above the national average,” LePage said. “Now we’ve fallen below the national average.”When LePage left office in January 2019, Maine’s workforce participation rate was actually 63%, after peaking a 65% in July 2013, according to Maine Department of Labor data.It is now 59%, not 58%, as he stated, though it is below the national average of 62%.Maine Democrats issued a statement arguing that New Hampshire’s economy was no better than Maine’s, citing the “back to normal” index created by Moody Analytics and CNN Business, which rates Maine’s economy as 96% back to normal and New Hampshire’s at 93%.Maine Democrats said under Governor Mills, Maine's gross domestic product growth ranked 11th best in the country, while under Governor LePage, Maine's had ranked near the bottom of states in GDP growth, citing a 2017 report from the Maine Center on Economic Policy. Sununu placed the blame for inflation on government spending approved by President Joe Biden and the Democratic-led Congress. “You can’t just add $5 trillion onto the balance sheet in Washington, DC and think it’s just gonna be okay," Sununu said.Both Republican gubernatorial candidates – Sununu is seeking a fourth, two-year term in New Hampshire – said they expect the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade and letting states decide abortion rights would have little impact in their states, where statutes protect a woman’s right to choose to terminate a pregnancy.“Nothing in New Hampshire changes,” said Sununu, noting that Republicans already control both chambers in the state legislature. “Leadership has said nothing’s going to change, and it's not going to change, definitely, on my watch.”“Nothing in Maine changes,” said LePage, though he previously declined to say what restrictions he would approve if a future Republican-led legislature sent them to the governor’s desk. Look at the eight years as governor of the state of Maine and look at my track record when it comes to abortion.”Mills last week issued an executive order designed to further protect abortion access in Maine.LePage was asked about the 2024 presidential race, whether he’d support former President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination or someone like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who hosted a recent donor gathering that LePage attended.“I went to raise money, because a lot of Mainers that have money are in Florida,” LePage said. “I am not supporting anybody at this point. I am friends with him. I am friends with a lot of governors," Sununu said. “If Republicans as a party don’t focus on ’22, ’24 don’t matter.”