Maine Media Flocks to Portland Abortion Clinic to See VP Harris’ Husband Speak

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris (D), was at a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Maine Wednesday as part of her nascent campaign as the presumptive 2024 Democratic presidential nominee.

Although his visit was originally planned as part of President Joe Biden’s (D) reelection effort, the focus of Second Gentleman Emhoff’s visit shifted to support the newly launched bid for the presidency by his wife, drawing significant attention from Maine’s major media outlets.

The visit to the Portland abortion clinic marked Emhoff’s first official campaign stop this election cycle, and his appearance led news coverage from both major newspapers and multiple television stations.

Just one block away from Emhoff’s Planned Parenthood stop, a group of activists had gathered to protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, D.C., but many of the Maine’s primary news outlets did not appear to cover the demonstration.

Wednesday afternoon, Emhoff took part in a round table discussion in Portland with representatives from Planned Parenthood that centered on the topic of abortion access both nationwide and in Maine.

In Maine’s most recent gubernatorial election, abortion loomed large as a hot-button political issue, and the 131st Legislature was dominated by Gov. Janet Mills (D) and Democratic lawmakers’ push to approve one of the nation’s least restrictive abortion laws, significantly expanding access to late-term abortion in Maine.

During his remarks, Emhoff spoke at length about the 2022 Supreme Court decision in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that served to repeal the nearly fifty-year-old precedent set by their ruling in Roe v. Wade, sending the issue of abortion back to the states.

[RELATED: Trump, Biden Spar Over IVF, Abortion Ahead of 2024 Election]

Emhoff went on to suggest that former President Donald Trump (R) “ran on a platform of overturning Roe v. Wade” in 2016 before appointing three “extremist, right-wing Justices…who are not in touch with the vast majority of Americans” to the Supreme Court in order “to overturn Roe v. Wade.”

“We have an election coming up, and we have a candidate in Kamala Harris who is on the right side of all of these issues for freedom, for progress, for benefiting the middle class, a vision for a world in which we can all have a place,” said Emhoff.

“That is what Kamala Harris is all about,” he said. “And that’s why this is my first official campaign event. It happens to be right here in Maine.”

Following the abortion clinic event, Emhoff reportedly attended a private fundraiser in Falmouth.

An invitation from the Maine Democratic Party obtained by the Portland Press Herald indicated that the event was held at the home of Taylor and Rebecca Asen and was intended to “support the Maine Democratic Party’s Coordinated Campaign.”

The Press Herald went on to explain that Taylor Asen is the brother of Jonathan Asen, who in May was named a senior advisor on President Biden’s campaign in Maine.

After a tweet from Biden’s X account revealed that he was no longer running for reelection, the campaign was formally renamed “Harris for President.” All previously announced staff in Maine are now working to support Harris in her pursuit of the presidency.

A source told the Press Herald that within 48 hours, Maine alone saw volunteer interest for the campaign increase tenfold, as well as the recruitment of 400 new volunteers.

Poll aggregator 270toWin and CNN have both labeled Maine’s second district as leaning toward supporting former President Trump this November.

According to 270toWin’s calculations, the state’s First District is expected to solidly support the Democrat nominee, while the state overall is a marked as a “likely” win for the Democrats. CNN’s map, on the other hand, has both District 1 and the state as a whole firmly in the Democrats’ column, even though Trump won the more conservative northern district in both 2016 and 2020.

Emhoff’s visit, however, suggests that Democrats may be concerned about how reliably blue Maine will be come November.

Politico reported earlier this month that Gov. Mills described the state as competitive on a conference call with Biden and nineteen other Democratic governors, expressing concern over the then-nominee’s ability to win statewide in the historically liberal state.

Similar remarks were also reportedly made by New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (D).

Trump carried Maine’s second district in 2016 and 2020, while both Biden and Hillary Clinton won in District 1, as well as in the state overall.

Maine — along with only Nebraska — allocates its four Electoral College votes differently from other states, with two votes awarded to the statewide election winner and one vote each awarded to the winner of the congressional districts.

That means Trump could potentially lose Maine’s predominantly liberal First Congressional District but win the statewide vote total and carry three Electoral College votes out of the Pine Tree State.