CAPE ELIZABETH – Vice President Dick Cheney focused on national security issues as he spoke at a fundraising luncheon Monday to benefit the Maine Republican Party.

About 50 people attended the private event at a waterfront home in this Portland suburb, but the state party’s executive director, Julie O’Brien, said the total amount raised had yet to be tallied.

Cheney spoke and answered questions in an informal setting, O’Brien said. “Most of the discussion was on national security issues,” she said.

The event was not intended to benefit any particular candidate, O’Brien said. “It was a party-building event. It was helping the Maine Republican Party work toward a majority at the State House and in all our elections this fall and to build grassroots efforts.”

At the request of the home’s owners, their names were not revealed.

The vice president spent about 21/2 hours in Maine before leaving at around 2 p.m. for a reception in Dallas, Pa., for U.S. Rep. Don Sherwood.