Gwen Walz, wife of Democratic Vice President candidate Tim Walz, campaigns in Portland on Friday. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

Gwen Walz, wife of vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, rallied voters and encouraged them to “choose a new way forward” in November’s election during a campaign stop in Portland on Friday night.

Walz’ stop in Portland came after appearances earlier in the day in Bangor and is part of a blitz by the Harris-Walz campaign in states around the country, particularly battleground areas, on the heels of the presidential debate this week between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

“Tim and Kamala, with your help, will build an opportunity economy for everyone where if you work hard you can get ahead and you don’t have to scrape by,” Walz told a crowd of around 600 supporters during a rally at the Brick South event space.

She encouraged people to make calls, volunteer and “do whatever you can,” to help elect Harris and Tim Walz. “We can choose to move forward but we’re going to have to fight, and we’re going to have to fight for it every day,” Walz said.

Walz is the latest national surrogate to come to Maine on behalf of the Harris campaign, which has also sent Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, here twice, along with other surrogates, though neither Harris or Tim Walz have visited yet.

Maine as a whole is seen as reliably Democratic, but the 2nd Congressional District has leaned more conservative in recent years. The state is one of two that split their electoral votes, and in 2016 and 2020 Trump carried the 2nd District to secure one of Maine’s four electoral votes.

Neither Trump, his running mate Ohio Sen. JD Vance, nor their family members have been to Maine yet this election cycle. Trump has spent less time here this year than in past campaigns – in 2016 he had already visited Maine three times before Labor Day and in 2020 he visited Bangor and Guilford during a trip in June.

That could be a sign that the Trump campaign no longer sees the 2nd District as a toss-up, though political observers say Trump has also traveled less in general this election cycle.

And while polling on Maine is limited, the latest results from the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, released in late August, had Harris up by 5 percentage points in the 2nd District and leading Trump 55% to 38% statewide. The poll surveyed nearly 1,000 people between Aug. 15 and 19 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

A crowd listens as Gwen Walz, wife of Democratic Vice President candidate Tim Walz, campaigns in Portland. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

Walz, the first lady of Minnesota, where her husband is governor, also visited the Briar Patch bookstore and a campaign office in Bangor earlier in the day.

In Portland, she spoke about her husband, their careers as teachers and educators, and some of the campaign’s priorities, choosing to highlight gun safety and reproductive rights.

Speaking of Trump and his running mate Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Walz brought up a comment made by Vance recently in the wake of a school shooting in Georgia in which Vance said school shootings are a “fact of life” and argued that security should be bolstered at schools.

“Their advice is we have to just get over it,” Walz said as the crowd booed. “I don’t buy it. I am not accepting that.”

She said Trump and Vance are also “coming for our reproductive freedoms,” and spoke about how she and her husband struggled to start a family and had to use fertility treatments.

“Everyone should have the freedom to build our families as we choose,” Walz said. “Just as important, we should be able to decide not to have children at all if that is our choice. The point is it should be our choice.”

Gov. Janet Mills speaks at Thompson’s Point as Gwen Walz, wife of Democratic Vice President candidate Tim Walz, campaigns in Portland on Friday. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

Walz was welcomed to the stage Friday by Mollie Barnathan, a Portland mother of three who talked about how she twice needed an abortion after pregnancies in which her babies had severe health conditions.

“Both times I was able to access the health care I needed with dignity and respect,” said Barnathan, who said that many women across the country don’t have that same access because of Trump.

Trump has boasted of his role in the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and place decisions on abortion law in the hands of states, many of which have moved to restrict access.

Democratic Gov. Janet Mills also appeared at Friday’s rally and credited the Biden-Harris administration with many successful initiatives in Maine, including infrastructure investments, an expansion of high-speed internet and increased access to child care.

“Kamala Harris lives by the values she was brought up with, the kind of values we (in Maine) were brought up with,” Mills said. “And who else better embodies the kindness, respect and compassion than her running mate, my friend Tim Walz?”

The rally Friday drew a long line of people that waited outside before the doors opened. Chris Pesek of Cumberland Center came to the rally because he believes Harris is the best choice for president and wanted to get more involved in her campaign.

Gwen Walz, wife of Democratic Vice President candidate Tim Walz, campaigns in Portland on Friday. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

A registered Republican, Pesek said he also signed up to call voters on behalf of the Harris campaign.

“I have sons and daughters and I care about what’s going to happen to the future of our country,” said Pesek, 60. “I see what (Trump) has done to the Supreme Court. I see and listen to Biden-Harris and I think they’ve gotten a lot accomplished, whereas I think Trump was taking us backwards. So I wanted to get involved and see what I can do to spread the word.”

Jackie Clark of Portland said she was excited to show her support for Harris. Clark, 37, said she is originally from Minneapolis, so Tim Walz “is a huge deal in my family and we were very excited he was selected.”

Clark, a Democrat, said she had planned to vote for Joe Biden but has enjoyed seeing enthusiasm build around Harris-Walz.

“The entire vibe change that has happened in the last few weeks has been really exciting, and I feel more emboldened to support it wholeheartedly,” she said.