Hillary Clinton will headline a rally for U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud at Scarborough High School on Friday, adding her name to a growing list of Democratic luminaries who hope to boost Michaud’s chances of winning the closely contested election for governor.

The visit gives the former secretary of state and first lady the chance to lay the groundwork and test her messaging for a potential 2016 White House run, by traveling the country to help Democratic congressional and gubernatorial candidates, including in New Hampshire, with its early presidential primary.

Registration for the free event was done online and all the seats have been taken. The doors open at 4:30 p.m.

Here are nine things you might not know about Clinton:

1. She was once a Republican.

At age 13, she canvassed South Side Chicago looking for evidence of voter fraud against Republican Richard Nixon. In 1964, she volunteered for Republican Barry Goldwater’s presidential campaign and the following year was named president of the Young Republicans Club at Wellesley College. She began moving toward Democrats after hearing Dr. Martin Luther King speak in 1962. She became a Democrat in 1968.

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2. She worked in a cannery – in Alaska.

During college, Clinton worked for a time at a cannery in Alaska, where she gutted and removed the slime from salmon.

3. She has a bit of Maine in her past.

Clinton attended Maine East High School in Chicago. Yes, the school spells its name that way.

4. She communed with the dead?

Apparently. Bob Woodward first reported in his 2005 book, “The Choice,” that as first lady, Clinton communed with former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Mahatma Gandhi. A spokesman described the sessions not as formal seances but as lighthearted affairs that helped Clinton laugh. According to the Associated Press, Clinton herself wrote in a June 4, 1996 newspaper column: “I occasionally have imaginary conversations with Mrs. Roosevelt to try to figure out what she would do in my shoes. She usually responds by telling me to buck up or at least grow skin as thick as a rhinoceros.”

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5. She can hold her liquor.

During a congressional tour of Estonia in 2004, then-Sen. Clinton and Republican Sen. John McCain engaged in a vodka drinking contest. The owner of the restaurant where the duel took place told The Telegraph newspaper that each downed four shots before Clinton was declared the winner. During Clinton’s 2008 presidential run, campaign manager Terry McAuliffe said, “She’s a girl from Illinois who likes to throw ’em down like the rest of us.” McCain’s campaign acknowledged the two had some drinks, but denied the reports of a contest.

6. Polls show that as a 2016 presidential front-runner, she would clobber any high-profile Republican on the ballot.

With few exceptions, Clinton leads in hypothetical match-ups at both the state and national levels against a whole cast of Republicans, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, according to polls tracked by Real Clear Politics.

7. There are at least four active websites for a 2016 presidential run.

VotersforHillary.com, VoteHillaryClintonin2016.com, ReadyforHillary.com, and HillaryClinton2016.com.

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8. The Ready for Hillary Political Action Committee, which had a presence at the Maine Democratic Convention in May, has raised over $10 million.

And spent $9.5 million from Jan. 1, 2013 through Sept. 20 on staff and Web ads, among other areas. Seventy-six people, include wealthy Democratic supporter George Soros, have donated $25,000 to the PAC, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

9. Her birthday is Sunday.

Two days after her appearance in Scarborough, she will turn 67.


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