AUGUSTA, Maine — More than five weeks of political turmoil, including the replacement of President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket, is putting presidential politics at the center of the election in Maine’s swing 2nd Congressional District.
Third-term U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a centrist Democrat, led off the first ad of his race by saying his party’s president was unfit for a second term. His Republican opponent, state Rep. Austin Theriault, has tied himself to former President Donald Trump and seized almost daily on Golden’s refusal to say whether or not he will vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.
It isn’t just the banter between the candidates. Trump won one of Maine’s four electors in both the 2016 and 2020 races by taking the 2nd District. Even though Golden narrowly outpolled the former president four years ago, the Republican playbook for flipping the seat relies on a lift from Trump and Theriault being able to harness the district’s conservative lean.
“Golden’s a hard one to knock out,” a national Republican strategist who was granted anonymity to candidly discuss the race said. “You know, he’s like that white whale we’ve been trying to take out for years.”
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The national parties are still trying to figure out how the switch from Biden to Harris will affect races down the ballot. Trump led Biden throughout the campaign, but she is narrowing his edge in national polls and has overtaken him in some swing states. She led Trump by 8 percentage points in a recent statewide Maine poll from the University of New Hampshire.
Doug Emhoff, husband of presumed Democratic presidential nominee and current Vice President Kamala Harris, listens during a meeting at Planned Parenthood in Portland on Wednesday, July 24, 2024. Credit: Troy R. Bennett / BDN
After Biden’s poor debate performance against Trump, Golden wrote a Bangor Daily News op-ed saying the former president would win the election. He has ruled out voting for Trump, but he told Axios after the effective switch to Harris that he was not committed to voting for her, saying he was waiting to see how she handles economic issues, immigration and crime.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Austin Theriault said Golden was behaving like a “slippery Washington politician” for that. Golden issued a statement on Friday saying both Theriault and the media have “an obsession with Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.” But the congressman avoided answering a specific question about whether he will eventually say how he will vote in the November election.
“I’m the Congressman for Maine’s Second District and I’ll answer any question about the work that I do for my constituents,” Golden said.
Two Maine Republicans have also avoided questions about their presidential choices in recent years. While U.S. Sen. Susan Collins pledged to not vote for Trump in 2016 and 2024, she refused to say how she voted when she shared the ballot with the former president in 2020. Former U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin of the 2nd District did the same thing in 2016.
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Golden voted against Biden policies more than any other House Democrat last year, and his centrism proved difficult for Poliquin to handle in a 2022 rematch. The two had similar views on immigration and gun rights, leading the National Rifle Association and other similar groups to stay out of the race.
Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine’s 2nd District, attends a vigil for the victims of the Lewiston mass shootings at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. Credit: Robert F. Bukaty / AP
Guns will be a wedge this time after Golden reversed himself to back a ban on so-called assault weapons after the October mass shooting in Lewiston.
Theriault and his Republican allies have also leaned hard on immigration to brand Golden as a “flip-flopper” on that and other issues. One of the challenger’s main citations is Golden’s vote against House Republicans’ signature 2023 border bill.
Golden adviser Bobby Reynolds said in a recent WVOM interview that his boss opposed it for eroding protections for children taken across the border but noted the congressman’s history of voting for border security funding.
Theriault won his June primary with the endorsement of Trump. While he has tied himself to the former president, his public statements have repeated that he wants “more balance and less extremism” in Washington. In a statement, campaign manager Shawn Roderick said Theriault “has a completely different personal style and approach” than Trump.
State Rep. Austin Theriault of Fort Kent (center) greets supporters at Dysart’s Restaurant Broadway in Bangor on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, after winning the Republican primary to face U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine’s 2nd Congressional District. Credit: Kim Higgins / BDN
“In Congress, he’ll stand up to the Republicans who want to cut Social Security and Medicare, oppose any national ban on abortion, and won’t allow [the federal fishing regulator] to mess with our lobstermen,” Roderick said.
Golden likely starts with a narrow edge. Decision Desk HQ, the Bangor Daily News’ national election results partner, gives him a 67 percent chance of winning. The congressman is also running ads while Theriault is not. That will change soon, and both candidates will have ample support from party groups.
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Before Biden dropped out, Trump had a 92 percent chance at winning Maine. The presidential campaigns have not focused much here yet, though Trump visited the district twice in 2020 and a group supporting Harris bought ads in the Bangor market last week, according to the monitoring firm AdImpact.
Theriault looks primed to focus on the top of the ticket while defining his image, and Golden appears inclined to make this more of a local race.
“Regardless of who the president is, regardless of who’s offering up legislation, if it’s good for his constituents, he’s going to support it,” Reynolds said of Golden in the radio interview. “If it’s bad for his constituents, he’s going to oppose it.”
A letter is being sent that asks registered sex offenders to email personal information
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Maine State Police
scam letter targeting sex offenders in maine
SOURCE: Maine State Police
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State Police warn of scam targeting sex offenders in Maine
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A letter is being sent that asks registered sex offenders to email personal information
Updated: 11:10 AM EDT Apr 8, 2026
Editorial Standards ⓘ
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Maine State Police is warning of a scam that is targeting sex offenders in the state.The issue was brought to those who run the Sex Offender Registry that the scam is targeting registered people on probation in Maine. A letter is being mailed to people, claiming to be from the ‘Maine Probation Tonduary.’ The letter claims there has been a data migration error in the Records Management System and the registrant needs to email personal identifying information (PII) to an email address listed on the letter. Police say neither the Maine Sex Offender Registry nor the Maine Department of Corrections would ever send such a letter asking a person to send sensitive information in this format. If you have received such a letter, you should not email your information to the address on the letter. Instead, report it to the Maine Sex Offender Registry at 207-624-7270 or local law enforcement.
MAINE —
Maine State Police is warning of a scam that is targeting sex offenders in the state.
The issue was brought to those who run the Sex Offender Registry that the scam is targeting registered people on probation in Maine.
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A letter is being mailed to people, claiming to be from the ‘Maine Probation Tonduary.’ The letter claims there has been a data migration error in the Records Management System and the registrant needs to email personal identifying information (PII) to an email address listed on the letter.
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Police say neither the Maine Sex Offender Registry nor the Maine Department of Corrections would ever send such a letter asking a person to send sensitive information in this format. If you have received such a letter, you should not email your information to the address on the letter. Instead, report it to the Maine Sex Offender Registry at 207-624-7270 or local law enforcement.
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Voting is the cornerstone of democracy, and in 2026 Mainers will have a lot of important decisions to make when casting their ballots — from the very top of the ticket to the bottom. On June 9, Mainers will participate in the state’s semi-open party primaries, choosing Democratic and Republican nominees for governor, as well […]
Brady Chapman fills up one of four trucks he uses for his business Wednesday at Irving Gas Station in Bethel. Regular gas was $4.09 at the station. (Rose Lincoln/Staff Writer)
Maine’s average price for regular gasoline rose to its highest point since August 2022, as the conflict in Iran continues to drive up global oil costs.
A gallon of regular gas averaged $4.03 here Tuesday, ticking up more than 6 cents overnight, according to data aggregated by motor club AAA. That price has risen 38.5% — about $1.12 — since Feb. 28, when the United States and Israel struck Iran, triggering a conflict that has since spilled into the broader Middle East.
Maine’s average price crossed the $4 threshold a week after the national average did so. The national average was up to $4.14 Tuesday, AAA data shows.
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Premium gas was up to $5.07 per gallon in Maine, topping $5 for the first time in nearly four years. Diesel, meanwhile, averaged about $5.90 per gallon Tuesday.
Collectively, those figures mark the state’s highest average gas prices since the summer of 2022, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine drove gas prices to record highs. A gallon of regular gas peaked at $5.09 that June, the highest ever recorded by AAA.
This week, Maine’s prices were the 21st highest among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., according to AAA. California, Hawaii, Washington, Nevada and Oregon all saw average prices above $5 per gallon Tuesday.