BANGOR – Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean will hold a Friday afternoon rally at the Bangor Motor Inn gazebo on the Hogan Road.

Dean, a medical doctor and former Vermont governor, is among the top contenders in a crowded field seeking to challenge President George W. Bush in November 2004.

In recent weeks, Dean has gained notoriety for his fundraising successes on the Internet and his pointed criticism of the war in Iraq.

The 4:30 p.m. rally is open to the public.

Dean’s stop comes early in the campaign season, with months yet to go before the state party’s 2004 presidential caucuses.

In 2000, party members voted for a presidential candidate in a primary election.

After the Bangor rally, Dean will travel to Camden, where he will hold a private fund-raiser.

Dean is the first presidential candidate to visit the city in the early days of this political season. But his is not the first campaign to do so.

Cam Kerry, brother of candidate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., stopped in Bangor Sunday to hold an organizational meeting.

For more information about Dean’s rally in Bangor on Friday, call Gwethalyn Phillips at 942-1330.