AUGUSTA (AP) — Following two days of hearings ending Wednesday, all of Gov. Paul LePage’s nominees to court, state board and Cabinet posts have won committee endorsements, which almost assures their Senate confirmations.

Senators meet today to take up more than 70 of the appointments. All but a few of the candidates received unanimous votes, but it takes a two-thirds Senate vote to overturn a committee recommendation, giving committee’s recommendations considerable weight.

In one of the most closely watched hearings Wednesday, the education committee recommended by a thin, 6-4 vote former Husson University president William Beardsley for a term on the state Board of Education, which advises the commissioner of education on school-related policies. The vote for Beardsley broke down on party lines, with Democrats opposing.

In another review that drew considerable interest, the Judiciary Committee voted 10-2 to endorse Daniel Billings, LePage’s chief legal counsel who has a history of Republican partisan politics, to become a district judge, the lowest level of the state court system that deals with family issues and minor offenses.

But Maine National Guard Col. James Campbell encountered no committee opposition on his nomination to serve as the state Guard’s adjutant general — its top officer — and commissioner of the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management.

Beardsley, who opposed LePage in the 2010 gubernatorial primary but went on to become LePage’s conservation commissioner, has a career-long interest in educational issues. That branches into areas of finance programs for students and work on the board that laid the groundwork for Maine Learning Results, which set standards for student improvement.

As expected, lawmakers’ questions briefly focused on former Husson chaplain Robert Carlson, who committed suicide last November after learning he was being investigated for sexual abuse of minors. Beardsley acknowledged that officials have a responsibility to follow protocols for reporting the abuse if it comes to their attention.

“In the case of the Robert Carlson situation, it didn’t apply, but I’m very, very aware of those responsibilities of an educator,” Beardsley said.

Asked whether he thought the case was still open and there are unanswered questions, Beardsley said, “I don’t know. The police did an investigation. … I don’t know what issues are out there. All I know is that I certainly, in all my 22 years (at Husson) I had absolutely no knowledge of any illegal or unlawful behavior by Bob Carlson.”

Husson rose from college to university status and cleared up fiscal problems dogging the Bangor school during Beardsley’s presidency.

During Billings’ hearing, lawyers, senators and government insiders from both parties testified about his experience practicing diverse areas of law, his coolness in contentious cases and his intelligence. Several said Billings, despite his past political activism, has the temperament to maintain objectivity in cases that will come before him as a judge.

The governor’s nominee “brings a sense of collegiality, a sense of fair play” in dealing with his adversaries, said Severin Beliveau, an Augusta attorney with longtime ties with Democratic politics. Beliveau added that it’s not unusual for governors to appoint members of their own staffs or the Legislature to judgeships, saying eight sitting judges have come from that route.