Election 2024 Democrats

Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff address staff at her campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Del., Monday. Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool

Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, will be in Maine Wednesday for a campaign stop and fundraising event.

The trip was originally planned to support President Biden’s reelection campaign, but will now focus on boosting Harris’ bid for the presidency after Biden’s withdrawal on Sunday.

Emhoff will make multiple stops in southern Maine to campaign for Harris and Maine Democrats prior to a private fundraising event in Falmouth at 3 p.m., a Harris campaign official said.

The focus of the visit will be on abortion access and reproductive rights and on small businesses. Further details, including the exact locations Emhoff will be visiting, were not available Tuesday.

Abortion access and reproductive rights are a key component of Harris’ campaign and have become more of an election issue since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022. Last week, Maine Democrats hosted a rally in Brunswick that sought to focus attention on abortion rights as a key issue in the upcoming presidential election.

Later Wednesday, Emhoff is expected to attend a fundraising reception at the home of Taylor and Becca Asen in Falmouth, according to an invitation from the Maine Democratic Party.

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Taylor Asen is the brother of Jonathan Asen, who in May was named a senior adviser on the Biden campaign in Maine.

The Biden campaign formally renamed itself “Harris for President” on Sunday following Biden’s announcement he would not be seeking reelection, and the Biden campaign staff previously announced in Maine are now working for Harris.

The fundraising event was announced last week, before Biden’s announcement that he was dropping out of the presidential race and endorsing Harris.

In the days since Biden’s announcement, Harris has quickly garnered support among Democrats, including in Maine. Her campaign has said that she raised more than $100 million nationwide between Sunday afternoon and Monday evening.

In Maine alone, the campaign saw a 10-fold increase in volunteer interest and was able to recruit more than 400 new volunteers in 48 hours, according to a campaign source.

Maine delegates to the Democratic National Convention met Monday and voted to endorse Harris as the nominee.

Several other state delegations also met Monday to confirm their support for Harris, and the Associated Press reported that by Monday night she had the support of at least 2,579 delegates, which would be more than enough to make her the party’s nominee.

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