After opponents of Question 2 withdrew a recount request on Tuesday, the question of tax reform will shift to Gov. Paul LePage and the Legislature — where it was probably going anyway.

The Republican governor has made cutting taxes perhaps his biggest priority in office, signing a budget that provided the largest income tax cut in Maine history in 2011 and saying since 2013 that he wants that tax gone by 2020.

However, Question 2 undoes some of that by placing a 3 percent surtax on annual income over $200,000 and targeting it for K-12 education.

LePage already is urging the Legislature to change tax law to mitigate the impact, saying his two-year budget proposal to be unveiled in January will that reduces the income tax rate and removes taxes on pensions, among other changes.

The Legislature’s configuration — with Republicans holding a one-seat advantage in the Senate and Democrats up by just five seats in the House — will make for nailbiting votes. But House Minority Leader Kenneth Fredette, R-Newport, seemed pessimistic about the possibility of tax cuts on Tuesday, saying he doubts the Legislature has the “political courage.”

Taxes are shaping up to be the signature issue of the legislative session, which is still more than a month from gearing up. With the governor’s term up in 2018, it’ll set the tone for state politics in the post-LePage era.

But he’ll be at the forefront of all debate on the issue for the foreseeable future, which is just where he wants to be.

Question 1 recount

On Monday, Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap’s office will hold a recount on Question 1, which would legalize marijuana. It passed by nearly 4,100 votes. Recounts were never likely to change either outcome: Statewide recounts between 2000 and 2009 analyzed by FairVote showed a median shift of just 229 votes, which wasn’t enough to swing most elections.