Meet Steve Abbott

Born and raised in Maine

Steve Abbott was born and raised in Maine, coming from a family with Maine roots that date back to the 1700s. Steve grew up in Orono, and currently resides in Portland with his wife Amy and their two children.

Steve’s mother, Carol, is a retired elementary school teacher. His father, Walt Abbott, a 6th generation Rumford farmer, went on to be the football coach and athletic director at the University of Maine. He is a UMaine Hall of Famer who was recently honored for 50 years “on campus.”

A 1981 graduate of Orono High School, Steve went on to Harvard College where he majored in history. After graduating from Harvard, he graduated from the University of Maine School of Law in 1991.

In high school Steve captained state championship football and basketball teams and in 1981, was named Maine’s top high school scholar athlete. The Orono High School football teams he played on never lost a game and set the Maine record for consecutive wins – a record that still stands. In college, Steve played on two Ivy League Championship football teams and in 1984 was chosen to serve as Harvard’s 111th football captain. Steve’s record of athletic and academic accomplishments include the Orono High School Hall of Fame, the Harvard Varsity Club, and the Maine Law Review.

A record of public service

Since college Steve has served both Governor McKernan and Senator Snowe, and after law school, he practiced at Pierce Atwood, Maine’s largest law firm.

For the past 12 years, Steve has served the citizens of Maine as Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Susan M. Collins. While supervising a congressional staff and managing teams in Washington and Maine, Steve has helped thousands of Maine businesses and people.

Widely respected for his strategic skills and knowledge of Maine, Steve served as campaign manager for both of Senator Collins’s successful re-election campaigns in 2002 and 2008. In fact, Washington Post writer Chris Cilliza cited Steve’s work as deserving “a huge amount of credit for bucking a national Democratic wave.”

He has been active in Maine Republican politics for more than 25 years.

Raising a family in Maine

Steve lives in Portland with his wife, Amy, and their two children, nine-year-old Hannah and five-year-old Henry. Both Steve and Amy are active in their children’s recreational and school communities. Steve has coached many of Hannah’s sports teams. Amy, a Bates College alum who did her graduate studies at USM, set aside her 15-year career as an executive with UNUM to raise their children and become an active member of Portland’s Hall School Parent Teacher organization.

Steve and Amy enjoy the woods and water and can frequently be found at the Abbott family’s hunting camp in Rumford or at Amy’s family camp in Surry. Steve enjoys hunting, fishing and camping in the Maine outdoors with his family and friends.