WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Maine Republican Governor Paul LePage has won re-election, CBS projected on Tuesday, retaining his seat in a three-way race against six-term Democratic US Representative Michael Michaud and independent Eliot Cutler.

Mr LePage, 66, a former millworker, is an outspoken Tea Party-backed conservative who was considered one of the most vulnerable governors in the country when the campaign began.

He won by a narrow margin in 2010 in another three-way race in which Mr Cutler placed second.