WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is coming to Maine next month to raise money for his reelection campaign, according to the White House and the Maine Democratic Party.
Obama will be at two fundraisers on March 30, most likely in the Portland area, said Lizzy Reinholt, Maine Democratic Party spokeswoman.
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“We don’t have a lot of details yet,” Reinholt said. But, “It’s really exciting to see that he is coming to Maine. It shows we are an important state to him and that he wants to come here.”
The White House confirmed that the visit is a campaign stop, not an official White House trip, and that no public events are planned. Reinholt said that one of the fundraisers may be open to media coverage.
A Facebook page called “Obama for Me,” apparently run by Obama supporters, says one of the fundraisers will be a late afternoon stop in South Portland. But the official “Obama for America – Maine” Facebook page did not have that information, and there was no independent confirmation of whether one of the fundraisers will be in South Portland.
First Lady Michelle Obama was in the state in September, also to raise campaign cash for her husband’s reelection effort. She was the featured attraction at fundraisers at a home in Cape Elizabeth and at the Ocean Gateway terminal in Portland.
Obama was last in Maine in July 2010, when he and his family vacationed on Mount Desert Island.
Obama so far has raised $534,389 from Maine contributors for his 2012 reelection campaign, according to figures compiled by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign finance research organization in Washington.
That’s a fraction of what Obama has taken in from larger states. Massachusetts donors, for instance, have given Obam’s campaign more than $3.5 million. New York donors have handed over more than $7.4 million.
Obama won Maine in 2008 with 58 percent of the vote to Republican John McCain’s 40 percent.
MaineToday Media Washington Bureau Chief Jonathan Riskind can be contacted at 791-6280 or at: jriskind@mainetoday.com Twitter: Twitter.com/MaineTodayDC
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