U.S. Rep. Jared Golden’s shocking Wednesday decision to quit the 2026 race in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District looks poised to scramble the pecking order of state politics.
In a Bangor Daily News Op-Ed, the four-term Democrat cited “increasing incivility” and in politics as well as instances of political violence that made him reassess threats against him and his family. In that way, it echoed U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe’s sudden 2012 retirement.
The decision leaves former Gov. Paul LePage, a 77-year-old Republican, as the heavy favorite to succeed Golden in the district carried three times by President Donald Trump. State Auditor Matt Dunlap of Old Town was challenging the congressman in a Democratic primary.
When Snowe retired, many of Maine’s big-name politicians leapt into that year’s Senate race before many of them were scattered by independent former Gov. Angus King, who has held the seat ever since. But the conservative politics of the 2nd District could keep a crowded field of Democratic gubernatorial and U.S. Senate candidates in their races.
“My first reaction to it is: We’ve lost someone who’s genuinely willing to kind of cross parking lines, and it’s not just for show,” Jeremy Fischer, a Democratic lawyer who used to represent Presque Isle in the Maine Legislature, said.
Maine is a Democratic-leaning state, giving the party hope that they can win next year’s election to succeed Gov. Janet Mills. She is running against U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in a primary that also includes upstart oyster farmer Graham Platner of Sullivan.
Candidates to watch when it comes to the 2nd District are Platner and former Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, who ran for the congressional seat in 2014 and is mired in a five-way primary for governor next year. He is supported by organized labor and won a difficult legislative district in the socially conservative St. John Valley.
Neither the Platner nor the Jackson campaigns responded to a request for comment on Wednesday after Golden, a centrist who narrowly won his fourth term last year over former state Rep. Austin Theriault, R-Fort Kent, made his bombshell announcement.
“He, nor any other Democrat, has a path to victory in ME-02 and Republicans will flip this seat red in 2026,” Maureen O’Toole, a spokesperson for national Republicans’ campaign arm, said in a statement.
BDN writer Billy Kobin contributed to this report.
