ORONO, Maine — Jill Biden, the wife of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, made an economic and public health case for the former vice president, calling the 2020 election “too important” to sit out during the first of two campaign events in Maine on Friday.
The former second lady discussed Joe Biden’s economic recovery plan at Orono Brewing Company in Orono before heading to Blue Hill to meet with lobstermen. She is the first surrogate from the Democratic nominee’s campaign to visit Maine this year as his campaign has been reluctant to restart in-person events during the coronavirus pandemic.
Two of President Donald Trump’s sons have visited Maine the past week, while the Republican president has given Maine outsized attention in recent months. Trump won the 2nd Congressional District in 2016, but Biden has narrowly led most polls there this year while holding a wider lead in Democratic-leaning Maine as a whole.
The competitive district played host to Jill Biden’s events on Friday. The one in Orono featuring a few dozen socially distanced supporters contrasted with Donald Trump Jr.’s base-rallying address to a mostly maskless crowd of hundreds in Holden on Wednesday.
Jill Biden noted that more than 200,000 Americans have died of coronavirus and touted her husband’s plans to address the virus and rebuild economically. She then turned to the importance of the upcoming election, asking the crowd to consider how differently they might feel if they woke up to the news on Nov. 4 that her husband was elected president.
Jill Biden promotes her husband’s — Democratic nominee Joe Biden — presidential campaign at Orono Brewing Company on Sept. 25. Credit: Natalie Williams / BDN
“Everything you do will count,” Jill Biden said, “because this election — I know you hear this every year — but really and truly, this election is way too important to sit it out, and we, all of us, have to do whatever we can until Election Day.”
Trump also made an official visit to Maine in June, where he met with fishermen and toured a factory in Guilford, saying he planned to win the whole state this year. The former vice president has led Trump in statewide polling by a double-digit margin.
Recent polls — including one released by Colby College on Friday — have shown him with a narrow lead in the 2nd District as well, though the results there have been within the margin of error. The district is worth one Electoral College vote.
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