Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Gov. Janet Mills will hold an online event Wednesday evening to launch a “Women for Biden” initiative in Maine.

The “virtual kickoff” will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, the same night that Vice President Mike Pence and a host of other speakers will tout President Trump’s record during the third night of the Republican National Convention. Most campaign events this season are being held virtually – or with limited in-person participation – because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Joe Biden campaign said the event will “center on Joe Biden’s plan to fight for women by protecting and expanding access to health care and child care, and providing support to women owned businesses after four years of Donald Trump’s failed leadership for women and families.”

Albright was the nation’s first female secretary of state, serving under President Clinton from 1997 to 2001, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama in 2012. A professor of diplomacy at Georgetown University and author of multiple books, Albright endorsed former Vice President Biden last spring and has been a vocal critic of Trump.

In June, after federal law enforcement used riot-control tactics to clear peaceful protesters outside of the White House moments before a Trump photo-op, Albright called Trump “the most un-American, un-democratic president in American history” in an interview with MSNBC.

Mills became Maine’s first female governor in January 2019 after serving as the state’s first female attorney general. While Mills did not endorse a Democratic contender prior to Maine’s presidential primary in March, she joined more than two dozen other women who are either current or former attorneys general endorsing Biden and his selection of California Sen. Kamala Harris (a former attorney general herself) as his running mate.

“In the midst of the largest public health crisis in generations, Maine people need a leader who will fight for them and their families as they navigate these difficult times,” Mills said in a statement Tuesday. “After nearly four years of attacks on women’s rights, health care, and human dignity, Maine is ready to elect new leaders who will lift up and respect women and who will create a better future for Maine communities and families. Those leaders are Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.”

Albright and Mills will be joined by several Democratic state lawmakers, including Sen. Cathy Breen of Falmouth, Rep. Rachel Talbot Ross of Portland and Rep. Christina Riley of Jay.

For more information on the event, go to: mobilize.us/joebiden/event/310487/

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