Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin is visiting Lewiston this weekend to support a candidate hoping to fill an open Maine House of Representatives seat.

Martin will join Democrat Scott Harriman at a canvass launch to knock on doors and rally voters ahead of the Feb. 24 special election for the Maine House District 94 seat that covers several wards in Lewiston, according to a DNC official.

The seat has been vacant since former Rep. Kristen Cloutier, D-Lewiston, resigned last fall to become chief of staff to Senate President Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick. The winner will serve the remainder of Cloutier’s two-year term, which ends in November. The seat will be up for grabs again come November’s regular election.

Harriman, a 39-year-old Lewiston city councilor and landlord, faces Republican Janet Beaudoin, a 43-year-old Lewiston School Committee member and property manager who lost to Cloutier in 2022. While Martin and various state-level Democrats are backing Harriman, Beaudoin shared an endorsement on social media last month from U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

Both parties view the seat as significant in determining control of the Democratic-led Legislature, as the House currently features a narrow 74-72 advantage for Democrats over Republicans. Three additional representatives are Democratic-leaning independents, and two members are tribal representatives who cannot cast floor votes.

An additional House vacancy will be filled in a June special election for a redder Penobscot County district. Former Rep. Kathy Javner, R-Chester, who once held that seat, died of breast cancer last month.

Martin, who previously chaired Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and his Lewiston visit are also a reminder of how important national parties view statehouses around the country in responding to actions from the Republican-controlled Congress and President Donald Trump’s administration. The DNC official speaking ahead of Martin’s visit to Lewiston framed the State House seat as a “must-win to keep moving Maine forward.”

Democrats have done well in recent special elections around the country ahead of this November’s midterms. A Democrat earned a stunning victory in a Texas Senate special election last month for a district that Trump carried by 17 points in 2024.

Though the amount of money in the race is small, Beaudoin had a fundraising advantage over Harriman in the latest campaign finance reports. The Republican had raised more than $7,300, while Harriman had raised more than $4,800, according to campaign filings released last month.