AUGUSTA — Democratic candidate for governor Mike Michaud said Thursday that if elected, he will create a state-level Office of Inspector General to fight “waste, fraud and abuse” in the Department of Health and Human Services.

Michaud’s announcement appeared to be in reaction to a message that Republican Gov. Paul LePage has been focused on for months: that he is determined to stamp out all fraud among recipients of Maine’s public assistance programs.

While Michaud’s plan is also designed to address that level of fraud, his major focus was on management within DHHS, which has been at the center of several controversies in recent months — from a failed MaineCare rides program to a document-shredding scandal in the Center for Disease Control to a loss of $20 million in federal funding at the state-run Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta.

The new office proposed by Michaud, which would operate independently from the department, would be a watchdog for everything from external fraud and internal misconduct to strengthening whistleblower protections in a way that would encourage state employees to speak up when they see problems. The office would also conduct continuing evaluations of various programs within DHHS to ensure that they are being run efficiently and that recipients are being served effectively.

The inspector general would be appointed by the governor for a four-year term, which would be subject to confirmation by the Senate.

Michaud’s plan says that as the largest and most complex agency in state government, the Department of Health and Human Services is “vulnerable to mismanagement and abuse.”

LePage’s re-election campaign preempted Michaud’s public announcement of his plan Thursday morning by highlighting LePage’s well-known rise from an impoverished upbringing.

“While liberal Michael Michaud and his special interest group backers accuse Gov. LePage of waging a war on the poor, Michael Michaud has no clue what it is to be poor, absolutely no clue,” said LePage political adviser Brent Littlefield in a written statement.