Trump and Biden wage a big battle over one electoral vote in rural Maine

Dale Crafts, a Republican House candidate in Maine, speaks to GOP volunteers before they go knocking on doors in Bangor on September 19, 2020. (Janet Hook/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

BANGOR, Maine _ Maine is getting an outsized share of Trump love these days.

The president visited a remote town of 1,500 in June. His son and daughter-in-law, Eric and Lara Trump, have stumped in the state. A lobsterman from tiny Swan's Island spoke at the Republican National Convention in August.

And the president is showering federal largesse on the state's pandemic- and tariff-battered fisheries.

Jason Joyce, a lobsterman from Swan's Island, Maine, spoke at the Republican National Convention and at a rally with Eric Trump in Saco, Maine, on September 17, 2020. (Janet Hook/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

"He is very, very concerned on the plight of our fishermen," former Maine Gov. Paul LePage told a recent rally along Saco Bay with Eric Trump. "He is intent on helping."

Trump may care about the fishermen, but he's also mining a nugget of political gold in the country's far northeast corner: one single electoral vote.

That's also drawn the attention of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

The Trump campaign in Maine is arguing that the president has done much to help the state's iconic lobster industry. (Janet Hook/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

"Maine's hard-working lobstermen and women are hurting under (Trump's) watch," Biden tweeted. His wife, Jill Biden, will visit the state Friday for a campaign stop.

In a quirk of the presidential selection process, Maine is one of only two states _ Nebra

Democrats Tina Tarr and George Hughes protested President Trump's handling of the pandemic, standing outside an Eric Trump rally in Saco, Maine, on September 17, 2020. (Janet Hook/Los Angeles Times/TNS)