U.S. Sen. Angus King endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday, after the Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats was mentioned earlier this month as among the members of Congress who had not yet backed a presidential candidate.
King said in a Thursday afternoon Instagram post he spent four years sitting next to Harris, a former district attorney and senator from California, when she was serving with him on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Most of the exchanges were behind closed doors, so King said he “got to see and know her more personally, outside our usual world of cameras and constant attention from the press.”
King said he learned Harris is a “tough questioner” who is also “quick and whip-smart,” not “particularly partisan” and passionate about “the truth and our democracy.”
“These are the qualities I want in a President, and this is why I’m voting for Kamala Harris,” King said.
Though King was not as quick as other Democratic-aligned members to back Harris after she replaced President Joe Biden atop the Democratic ticket this summer, his endorsement was not surprising, given the former Maine governor has been a harsh critic of former President Donald Trump.
U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat seeking reelection in Maine’s closely watched 2nd District race, has not endorsed Harris while saying he will not vote for Trump. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, has said she will not vote for Trump and will instead cast a symbolic write-in vote for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
King, 80, first won election to the Senate in 2012 and faces three challengers in a November race he is expected to win. He has faced fewer concerns about his age and health than Biden, 81, did before he stepped aside after a shaky June debate against Trump. The latest national polls have the race between the 59-year-old Harris and 78-year-old Trump in a virtual tie.
