Twenty minutes before addressing the Republican state convention earlier this month, a relaxed Stavros Mendros roamed the crowded hallways with his nephew, who stuck close to the congressional candidate.

“You know better than to ask for a copy of the speech,” Mendros, putting his arm around the boy, stopped to tell a nearby reporter. “It all comes from the heart.”

The two-term state representative from Lewiston is hoping his rousing speeches and conservative message will resonate with voters in the June 11 GOP primary, where he faces three opponents for the party’s nomination for the open 2nd Congressional District seat.

Before Mendros’ convention address, his nephew, who bears an uncanny likeness to the candidate, made the introductions.

“He changed Lewiston from Republi-can’t to Republican!” 11-year-old Raymond Goulet told the 1,000-plus delegates at the Augusta gathering, citing Mendros’ back-to-back victories in the Lewiston district that has only elected two Republicans in the last century.

Mendros, 34, indeed likes to stand out from the crowd.

The brash 6-foot, 260-pound lawmaker often brings his nephews along on the campaign trail to serve as a reminder of the Census numbers that show the state’s youths leaving in droves for points south and the higher-paying jobs found there.

Mendros said he wanted to run for the federal office to increase economic opportunity in the state and slow the exodus that included many of his classmates at the University of Maine.

To that end, Mendros – like his political role model, Ronald Reagan – promotes the Republican mantra of lower taxes and less government, a popular message among those at the three-day convention in Augusta.

“People are frustrated with government getting in their lives,” Mendros said in a later interview.

In Washington, Mendros said he would look to lessen the region’s economic woes by supporting improvements to the region’s subpar highways and telecommunications infrastructure.

“Whether you live in Madrid, Madawaska or Machias, you should be able to work in Manhattan,” Mendros, a Web page designer, said of the need to link the farthest reaches of the remote district to the rest of the world with high-speed Internet connections and satellite technology.

Mendros, who opposes both abortion and the death penalty, has taken to the airwaves to spread his message and reach the largely conservative talk radio listeners.

Mendros also found his conservative audience at this February’s Penobscot County caucus in Bangor, where there were few kind words about Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. John Baldacci, who now is running for governor.

“I’m sure you’re as sick of spaghetti as I am,” Mendros told the crowd, referring to the congressman’s traditional spaghetti-supper fund-raisers. Instead, Mendros, who often cites his Greek heritage, prefers to bring baklava to campaign events.

In his native Lewiston Republicans are few and far between, so Mendros acknowledges a primary run could present a challenge. But if he were to survive the June contest, Mendros said he liked his chances in a general election with his ability to capture independent – and even some Democratic – votes in the district’s largest city.

Labeled a maverick by some in Augusta, Mendros has raised his profile in recent months, most recently with his dogged criticism of the Department of Human Services after the death of 5-year-old Logan Marr while she was in state custody. Mendros sponsored legislation, which ultimately was killed in committee, that would have allowed Marr’s mother to sue the state.

Despite being single, Mendros, who lives with his sister and her three children at their family home in Lewiston, often includes a “family values” plank in his platform.

“We don’t need to restore the North Woods, we need to restore the Maine family,” said Mendros, referring to RESTORE: The North Woods, a group that has proposed a national park in northern Maine.

Mendros counts himself a vehement opponent of the park and the federal government’s listing of Atlantic salmon on the endangered species list.

To advance those causes in Congress, Mendros said he wasn’t afraid of attracting some attention.

“It’s about being able to speak from the heart and understand the issues and fight for what’s right,” Mendros said. “We need somebody who’s not afraid to stand up and get noticed.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

On the Net: www.mendrosformaine.com