Want to see what national Republicans and Democrats are telling outside groups to run ads on in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District? There are websites for that.
Both the National Republican Congressional Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee have sites featuring recommended language and strategies for political action committees to employ when going after U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat seeking a fourth term in Congress, or state Rep. Austin Theriault, a Republican.
It’s a result of a campaign finance loophole that shows itself in major races like this one in Maine’s swing district. Unlike the candidates, super PACs can take unlimited amounts of money and spend it to influence elections. Party campaign arms are barred from coordinating with them. To get around that, they give them poll-tested messages about what to say.
The practice, which is used by both parties, is known as “redboxing.” The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center has called it an illegal move to skirt the law. But it offers a transparent look at the race to win over a small pool of voters in Maine’s 2nd District, which has twice gone for Trump while also supporting Golden over since he was first elected in 2018.
Theriault and his allies have repeatedly called Golden a “flip-flopper” on issues such as border security, lobster fishing regulations and gun control while highlighting how he has not shared whether he will back Vice President Kamala Harris come November, other than saying he will not endorse any presidential candidate and will not vote for Trump.
Golden, who voted against Biden more than any other House Democrat in 2023, has said he is representing the diverse views of his constituents in the rural district and backing a “progressive conservative” agenda that supports abortion rights and unions while opposing more sweeping proposals on the environment and student debt.
These talking points appear on the national campaign sites. The NRCC’s site says Maine voters “need to know that Jared Golden says one thing in Maine and does another in Washington.”
It also alludes to Golden coming out in support of a ban on so-called assault weapons after Maine’s deadliest-ever mass shooting last October in his hometown of Lewiston, even instructing allies that the details of the congressman’s position “are not important.”
“What matters is the credible news coverage of Golden’s flip on the [Second Amendment] which is helpful for voters to know in combination with some of his other flip flops on major issues that hurt Mainers to demonstrate a pattern of saying one thing and doing another,” it says.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee gets specific on several fronts, including by saying that abortion-rights voters who do not live in Theriault’s more socially conservative Aroostook County should hear about Theriault’s “record on restricting reproductive rights.”
The Republican opposed abortion-rights expansions led by Gov. Janet Mills over the past two years, though he said during his 2022 campaign for state office that Maine’s abortion laws should generally remain in place.
The Democratic group goes on to say that “voters should see and hear ads from real people from the [2nd District] explaining the reasons that Austin Theriault is not suited to be their Congressman and won’t look out for their interests.”
A Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Savannah Viar echoed the site by saying Golden “says one thing in Maine and does another in Washington.”
The preferred messaging is showing itself in ads, such as several launched in August from Restoration of America, a conservative PAC mostly funded by billionaire megadonor Richard Uihlein, that go after Golden on inflation and gun control. On the official side, Golden has a survey on his House website asking respondents whether they support a national abortion ban.
Golden’s campaign has raised about $4.75 million since the start of 2023 and spent nearly $1.5 million, per federal data, while Theriault has raised about $1.75 million since entering the race last September and spent about $850,000.
Aaron McKean, the Campaign Legal Center’s senior legal counsel for campaign finance, called both parties’ websites for the 2nd District race a “clear-cut case of redboxing.” The practice has “only gotten worse in recent years,” McKean added, noting the Pittsburgh area and Philadelphia have enacted local restrictions on it while no state or federal legislation has banned it.
“That cuts off accountability and makes it more difficult for regular voters to be involved in the political process,” McKean said.
