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In the home stretch of a 2nd Congressional District race viewed as a toss up, both U.S. Rep. Jared Golden and state Rep. Austin Theriault have committed to accepting the results of November’s presidential election.
Such a commitment would not have made news before former President Donald Trump’s ascent to the White House in 2016, but he has continued to falsely claim the 2020 election he lost to President Joe Biden was “stolen.” He is now running against Vice President Kamala Harris in a race further upended by an apparent Sunday assassination attempt against Trump.
The news: Six Republicans and 26 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives signed a “unity commitment” letter released Friday that pledges to acknowledge the winner once the Nov. 5 election is over and all legal means to challenge the results have been exhausted.
Golden, a Democrat who has since 2018 held the 2nd District that Trump won twice, was among the signers. The Trump-backed Theriault, a Republican from Fort Kent, expressed support for the letter.
Asked whether Theriault would sign such a letter and commit to accepting the November election results after Golden made the commitment, Theriault campaign spokesperson Riley Ploch replied with a one-word answer: “Yes.”
What’s really happening: Theriault, a former NASCAR driver, repeatedly touted Trump’s endorsement during his GOP primary against state Rep. Mike Soboleski, R-Phillips, but he has avoided supporting Trump’s election fraud claims and government shutdown calls in a district that leans toward Trump but remains closely divided.
This is not a new trend. Theriault affirmed the 2020 election results during his primary against Soboleski, who had said he believes Trump beat Biden without citing evidence. The 30-year-old is more restrained on the voting topic than former Rep. Bruce Poliquin, who was beaten by Golden in 2018 and opened his unsuccessful 2022 campaign by refusing to say Biden was legitimately elected.
The other side: Golden harshly condemned Trump for his actions ahead of the Capitol riots of Jan. 6, 2021. But has said he will not vote for Trump but has not supported Harris, leading Theriault and reporters to pressuring him on the question of how he will vote.
The congressman also rankled liberals with a summer Bangor Daily News op-ed he thought Trump would beat Biden in November. “I’m OK with that,” he wrote, making the argument that institutions would hold up during a second Trump term.
