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The broader political significance of Maine’s 2nd Congressional District was on display Saturday when Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley visited Bangor.
Whatley joined former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and numerous Maine Republicans at Dysart’s Restaurant on Broadway for a Saturday afternoon “Protect the Vote Tour” event. Whatley was installed in March as former President Donald Trump’s hand-picked chair of the RNC alongside co-chair Lara Trump, the presidential nominee’s daughter-in-law.
Whatley, a former North Carolina GOP chair, has promoted Trump’s false claims of election fraud in the 2020 election and supported using courts to try to overturn the results. At the same time, Maine Republicans have mimicked Trump’s messaging on early voting by encouraging supporters to take advantage of early voting methods to make the race “Too Big to Rig.”
Before Saturday’s event, Whatley sat down with the Bangor Daily News for a conversation on Maine, accepting November election results between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris and the 2nd District race between U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat and Marine veteran, and state Rep. Austin Theriault, R-Fort Kent, a former NASCAR driver.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
How do you view Maine ahead of November in terms of competitiveness for both the presidential and congressional candidates?
Whatley: Obviously, we feel pretty good about [the 2nd District]. [Trump] won it last time [and in 2016], and we’ve got a great candidate running for the congressional seat, so I think we really feel like we’re in a good place there all around.
We’ll have to wait and see what the margins look like in terms of whether we’re going to be able to win the whole state, but I think the issues that the voters are facing here are the exact same issues that the voters are facing all across the country — inflation, high grocery prices, gasoline prices, fuel prices.
Are you going to accept the results in November no matter what?
Whatley: Yeah, look, we want to have a fair, accurate, secure and transparent election cycle. That’s what we’re in Maine talking about today on the election integrity side, and we feel that if we have that, we’re going to be very comfortable with the results.
What do you make of Austin Theriault as a candidate running against Jared Golden, who’s been pretty durable?
Whatley: I think he’s a great candidate. He’s got a neat story to tell, but he’s not just resting on his story. He’s actually running on the issues. I think he’s doing what he needs to do to introduce himself to everybody in the district and talk about the issues that they care about.
I actually spoke with the House leadership this morning and asked about the race, and they’re very bullish about it as well, so I think we all feel pretty confident that he’s going to be able to get this done.
Who’s next after Donald Trump? What’s the future looking like for the party in terms of who is following in his wings?
Whatley: I think a lot of that is going to depend on what happens coming out of this election cycle and who’s going to step up, who’s going to serve in the administration. We have an unbelievably deep bench.
When you think about the talent that the Republican Party has in terms of great governors — Ron DeSantis [of Florida], Sarah Huckabee Sanders [of Arkansas], Kristi Noem [of South Dakota]. We’ve got amazing senators. We’ve got amazing folks in the House of Representatives. We’re excited about the next four years and the opportunity that we have in America to really truly turn this country around.
I spoke with President Trump after the first debate with Joe Biden, and we spoke a lot about having a consequential term. When you look at this country, where we were in 1980, it’s very similar to where we are now. This is a great country. We have the ability to be a very strong country, to lead the world, but you need the right leadership.
Ronald Reagan provided that, and Donald Trump is going to have that opportunity to be a very transformational president coming out of this election cycle, and I think the future of the Republican Party is very strong.
