AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - Newly elected Gov. Janet Mills received multiple standing ovations at the state’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration, ending an eight-year absence by Maine’s chief executive from the event.
Mills addressed 680 people at the 38th annual Martin Luther King Jr. dinner in Portland Monday. The Democratic governor received a warm reception, contrasting with former Republican Gov. Paul LePage who developed a difficult relationship with Maine’s NAACP leaders during his time in office.
Maine’s governors traditionally had attended MLK Day events hosted by either the Portland or Bangor branches of the NAACP.
In her address, Mills called on listeners to work to raise up all people and to fight fear and hate “in our courts, in our State House, in our U.S. Capitol, on our streets.”
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