Ann LePage, wife of controversial Maine Gov. Paul LePage, has taken a summer job as a waitress at McSeagull's restaurant in Boothbay Harbor.
"Oh honey, it’s all about the money; it’s all about the money," she told CBS affiliate WGME. "I told him my money I earn here I’m putting in a kitty. I want to buy a car this summer."
Specifically, she is saving for a Toyota RAV4, which starts at $24,350.
Gov. LePage earns $70,000 per year, making him the lowest-paid governor in the U.S. That amount is also well below the $87,000 average income for a married couple in the state, according to the Maine Sun Journal.
Ann LePage told the Boothbay Register she always wanted to try waitressing.
"After my mother passed away I told my daughter maybe this is the year I'll try this," she told the newspaper. "She said, 'Mom I think you should go for it,' although my son thought I was having a midlife crisis."
"We think our First Lady rocks the crew shirt," the restaurant wrote on Facebook. "She's an awesome addition to the team."
It's not clear how much she is being paid, but The Associated Press reported that the couple's daughter earned $28 an hour at the restaurant last summer.
"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," Ann LePage told the news agency.
The restaurant said the governor's wife has been doing well in her new position.
"It's not just all fun and games," Jackie Barnicoat, McSeagull's general manager, told CNN. "There's a lot of grueling side work that comes with it and she doesn't stop."
Ann LePage said she's enjoying the gig.
"I'm having a ball," she told the Register. "You've got to be a people person. It's hard work."
McSeagull's has a 3.5-star rating on Yelp, and is known for local favorites like fried haddock and bacon-wrapped scallops.
Ironically, Gov. LePage just recently complained that the state's obesity and diabetes rates had doubled in the past 20 years, and blamed junk food. In a June 17 letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, LePage threatened to cancel the state's food stamps program unless it restricted the purchase of junk food.
The Republican governor has also come under fire repeatedly for making racist and sexist comments. Last year, he said women couldn't be trusted with money, even though he had previously stated that his wife handles the family's finances.
(h/t Washington Post)
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