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Jubilation, Protest In Maine Over Joe Biden's Victory

Celebrating supporters poured into Portland streets Sunday following the announcement that Former Vice President Joe Biden was the new president-elect.

For hours, cars drove up and down Congress Street honking their support. Hundreds gathered in Monument Square to mark the occasion.

“My hope is that we can see that unity is possible and that we don’t need to dip into divisive and incendiary politics. And that we can have policies and collaborations that really can meet the needs of everyone and that doesn’t really have to break along party lines,” says Catherine Elliott, through tears.

Linda McDivot and Lilly Zitoni met each other yelling and clapping their support on the corner of Congress and High streets.

They seemed like fast friends already and talked over each other when discussing what they hoped to see leave with President Donald Trump.

“The bigotry the racism. The white supremacy,” McDivot says.

“And that’s based on lies. It’s all based on lies,” Zitoni says.

“That’s just broken my heart these last 5-plus years, before he got into office. It’s just — it’s heartbreaking,” McDivot says.

Haylee Foydel and many others that turned out say they’re looking forward to a more unified country.

“I feel like a weight has been lifted. For the past four years it feels like we’ve been living with something on our shoulders and today it feels like we can finally take a breath again and start thinking about our country again and what we want it to look like for all of us,” she says.

Joe Biden secured the necessary 270 electoral college votes midday Saturday with the announcement he had won Pennsylvania.

Although celebrations were buoyant in Portland, other areas of the state were not so enthusiastic. A number of protesters gathered outside the Blaine House in Augusta to voice their support for Trump, who won Maine’s single electoral college vote from the 2nd Congressional District.