Angela Franklin Lord, of Cushing, applauds with other members of the crowd in Monument Square on Wednesday for the launch of Black Mainers for Harris-Walz. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

State and local leaders gathered in Monument Square on Wednesday to launch an effort by the Harris-Walz campaign to get the vote out among Black Mainers.

The event came a week after Democrats gathered in Chicago to nominate Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and was the latest in a series of campaign events held in Maine since Harris took over the Democratic ticket from President Biden in late July.

Maine House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, the first Black woman to serve as speaker of the Maine House, looked to capitalize on the energy from last week’s convention, which she described as life-changing.

“It has reignited the fire in me – I’m sure like many others – to fight harder for the future we all believe in,” Talbot Ross said.

Talbot Ross, who co-chairs Black Mainers for Harris-Walz, said the new group “creates a space for dialogue, organizing and action where Black Mainers can engage directly with a campaign that values us, that sees us and hears us and values diversity.”

The Maine Department of the Secretary of State doesn’t have a breakdown of voter registrations by race, so it’s hard to say exactly how many Black voters there are in Maine. As of 2020, just under 3% of the state’s 1.3 million people identified as Black or African American, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Talbot Ross said it’s important for Black Mainers to know there are elected leaders in Maine fighting for a ticket that is committed to diversity and justice.

Republican Donald Trump and his allies “are planning a massive expansion of presidential power” through Project 2025, Talbot Ross said.

She said Trump’s election would undermine Black communities by repealing the Affordable Care Act, encouraging white supremacy and supporting policies that widen the racial wealth gap.

Maine House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, right, speaks from a lectern while flanked by U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, and others, who gathered in Monument Square on Wednesday afternoon to launch Black Mainers for Harris-Walz. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

“These are not the policies we want here in Maine, and we need to ensure that if that’s not what we want, we cannot stay on the sidelines,” she said.

Project 2025 is a set of conservative policy proposals for a new Republican administration published by the conservative Heritage Foundation. Trump has tried to distance himself from its agenda, though critics have pointed to the involvement of his allies as evidence that the plan shows what a second Trump administration could look like.

Trump has also said in the past that he would look at replacing the Affordable Care Act, though a campaign spokesperson told the New York Times earlier this month that Trump is not running to terminate the law and wants to “make health care actually affordable.”

Janiyah Thomas, Team Trump’s Black media director, in response to questions about the Portland rally Wednesday, did not say specifically if Trump is planning any similar outreach with Black voters in Maine, but that the campaign “is going into deep blue cities and standing up grassroots engagement on a national platform.”

“Black voters, like all voters, know that President Trump is the strongest candidate on the issues that matter to voters like the economy, immigration and inflation,” Thomas said in a statement.

Wednesday’s Harris launch in Portland drew about 60 people as well as others who stopped to listen as they walked through the square at lunchtime.

U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio speaks in Monument Square Wednesday during the launch of Black Mainers for Harris-Walz. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

Talbot Ross was joined by several state and local officials; Shay Stewart-Bouley, a Peaks Island resident and the leader of an anti-racism organization; Black Mainers for Harris-Walz co-Chair Darmita Wilson; and U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-OH, all of whom spoke to the crowd.

Beatty said she came to Maine as a Harris surrogate because “every vote, every voice counts” and that this year’s election is “the most consequential of our lifetimes.”

“What we’re going to do is get people registered to vote and we’re going to go out and vote,” she said.

Angela Franklin Lord, who lives in Cushing, drove nearly two hours to the rally after hearing about it from her state representative at a lobster bake last weekend. “I’ve never not voted for a Dem,” said Lord, adding that she agrees with Harris’ positions on reproductive rights, foreign policy and gun violence.

“I’m just really inspired by her public service,” Lord said.

Maine House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross’ parents Anita and Gerald Talbot laugh while talking to U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio in Monument Square Wednesday before the launch of Black Mainers for Harris-Walz. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

Marcia Minter of Portland, who also attended the rally and is on the committee of Black Mainers for Harris-Walz, said she likes that the candidates “stand for true justice for all Americans.”

She said she appreciated Wednesday’s rally being held.

“Maine has that reputation that no Black people live here and that this is the whitest state,” Minter said. “We are very much here. We have always been here and we are a very active and close-knit community, and we want to make sure that is seen and heard.”