Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders will hold two presidential campaign events in Portland over Labor Day weekend.
Sanders will hold a rally at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the State Theatre in Portland, and then speak at 8:30 a.m. Monday at the Southern Maine Labor Council Labor Day Breakfast.
Sanders is one of more than 20 candidates seeking the Democratic Party nomination next year, and he’s the second presidential candidate to visit Maine so far. The first was Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who drew more than 1,800 to the State Theatre earlier this month.
Nina Turner, co-chair of Sanders’ campaign, visited the state the same day Buttigieg visited, and hinted at the time that an appearance by Sanders himself wasn’t far behind.
The Vermont independent won nearly 65 percent of the vote among Democratic caucus voters in 2016, topping eventual nominee Hillary Clinton.
Maine Democrats will switch to a presidential primary that will be held Super Tuesday, or March 3, next year. It’s still not clear whether that contest will be carried out using ranked-choice voting.
