PORTLAND, Maine – Some of the most powerful people in the U.S. visited Portland on Wednesday on the first day of a National Governors Association meeting.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican who campaigned with former Maine Gov. Paul LePage in Westbrook before arriving in Maine’s largest city, said he “loved Maine.”
He had eaten a burger and some jerk ssam shrimp lettuce wraps at Nosh Kitchen Bar on Congress Street in downtown Portland the night before, calling both “absolutely delicious.”
“It’s a beautiful time to be here,” Sununu said.
But the bipartisan meeting of a group that normally tries to set aside divisive issues when they get together has been a difficult one for many Americans, filled with strife due to recent Supreme Court decisions, including on abortion rights, and a spate of gun violence.
Some of the governors in attendance were among those most connected to those events, including Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican whose state just implemented a sweeping abortion ban, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat who helped coordinate the response to a Chicago-area July 4 parade shooting that killed seven.
Pritzker did not respond when asked a question in the hallway about gun control in the aftermath of the Highland Park shooting. Gov. Janet Mills also declined to answer questions as she checked in.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan noted he was enjoying Maine so far in the short time he had been here. Hogan looked forward to exploring more, he said.
“They’re going to be showing us around,” Hogan said. “We’re definitely going to be getting some lobster at some point.”
People streamed in and out of the hotel lobby at the Westin Portland Harborview on High Street. Along with the governors attending with their families and entourages, there were also many lobbyists from organizations and businesses checking in.
Security abounded from Portland police and various other departments. One state trooper who usually covers the Jackman area said he was not used to such an urban environment.
Attendees walked around with name tags, though the governors generally did not appear to be wearing them. They likely banked on people knowing who they are, though some are far more high-profile and recognizable than others.
Events were closed to press on Wednesday, but Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who was attending virtually, led a meeting that included a discussion of cybersecurity, disaster relief and the National Guard, according to a tweet from the association.
Public events will kick off on Thursday and Friday at the Holiday Inn Portland-by the Bay on Spring Street. Mills is expected to speak at an event there tomorrow, according to her office.
The annual summer conference was also the first non-virtual summer meeting since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Portland had been slated to host the 2020 summer event before the pandemic forced it to be virtual.
It was also the first time that Portland had seen the conference since August 1983. That conference included a speech by then-vice president and seasonal Kennebunkport resident George H.W. Bush. Also in attendance was Bush’s future 1988 presidential opponent, then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, as well as future President Bill Clinton, then governor of Arkansas.
With the conference also came several street closures nearby: on Wednesday, Commercial Street between Pearl and Franklin streets was set to be blocked off to vehicles from 3 to 7 p.m. Sections of Fore Street, Hancock Street, India Street, Thames Street and Freedom Way were also blocked off.
Two Bangor Daily News reporters had been able to operate independently in the Westin lobby, speaking to guests and taking photos, after entering earlier in the day. However, they were barred from doing so by security when they tried to enter again late in the afternoon.
A media clearance was required, security said, something that a National Governors Association official said wasn’t possible to give on Wednesday.
