Julia Louis-Dreyfus, center, joins Gov. Janet Mills, center-right, and seven other female Democratic governors for a panel at the 2024 Democratic National Convention. Photo by Don Pollard

Gov. Janet Mills told “Veep” star Julia Louis-Dreyfus that Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, can always “call on” her and other female leaders in the Democratic Party.

“We know her. We’ve worked with her,” Mills said Wednesday during a panel discussion led by Louis-Dreyfus at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. “She knows that, but it’s worth saying again: We’re there for you.”

Mills joined the “Seinfeld” star and nearly two-term television president alongside the country’s seven other female Democratic governors, including Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Meghan Meehan-Draper, executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, which organized the panel, called it “the hottest ticket of the event” as she introduced the leaders and the Emmy-winning star. The crowd cheered its agreement.

In her opening remarks Wednesday, Louis-Dreyfus said she was honored to join the country’s entire slate of female Democratic governors – “or what J.D. Vance might call a coven of menstruating witches,” she quipped.

She noted that while the United States has 12 female governors, women still hold a disproportionate minority of elected positions.

Later in the panel, Louis-Dreyfus rattled off a stack of questions submitted by fans of her podcast, including one listener who asked why the Republican Party was “so (expletive) weird?”

Mills, who said she grew up in a largely Republican family, said the party “didn’t used to be weird.”

She said there are “a solid group of Republicans in Maine” who are supporting Harris over their party’s nominee and no longer feel at home in the GOP.

“They know that the traditional Republican Party is not about Trump and never was,” Mills said. “They’re not all weird, but the Trump, MAGA Republicans – he’s weird.”

Asked whether there was anything the group wished they knew before taking office, Mills said having someone who can manage scheduling – and triaging competing events and invitations – is crucial.

“In an election year, you’ll go to the opening of an envelope,” she said. Louis-Dreyfus laughed and slapped her notepad against her leg.

Mills became Maine’s first female governor in 2019. Louis-Dreyfus noted that Mills flipped the governor’s seat when she was elected, following eight years under former Republican Gov. Paul LePage.

Mills said being elected during the pandemic was an “eye-opener,” which gave her a new perspective on the relationship between the public and the government.

“Nobody runs for governor thinking someday I’m just going to cancel Fourth of July parades,” Mills said. “And I think the people had a different perspective on what government does for them.”

Wednesday’s conversation came after Mills presented 30 of Maine’s 32 delegates to Harris on the convention’s second night. In her remarks, Mills praised Maine’s history of environmental stewardship, shouting out former Secretary of State Edmund Muskie and former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell.

“The state where the sun rises first on the nation over our bold and rocky coast, bringing with it today a new day for the brave and open-hearted people of this country,” Mills said Tuesday night, drawing cheers and applause from those around her. “As Maine goes, so will go the nation.”

On Wednesday, Louis-Dreyfus said she has long admired the Pine Tree State.

“I often say California has everything except Maine,” Louis-Dreyfus told Mills, before asking if Maine would ever consider uniting with its West Coast counterpart.

“We don’t want to be a colony of California,” Mills said. “We’re happy the way we are.”