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.”
The chair of the Maine Democratic Party announced Thursday she won’t seek reelection when members select leaders later this month.
Bev Uhlenhake, a former city councilor and mayor in Brewer and former chair of the Penobscot County Democrats, has served as chair of the state party since January 2023. She is also a previous vice chair of the party.
In a written statement, Uhlenhake noted some of the recent successes and challenges facing Democrats, including the reelection of Democratic majorities in both the Maine House and Senate last November, though by narrower margins, and winning three of Maine’s four electoral votes for Vice President Kamala Harris.
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“While we have laid a solid foundation from which Maine Democrats can build toward even greater success in 2026 and beyond, I have decided to step away from Maine Democratic Party leadership for personal and professional reasons, and will not seek reelection,” Uhlenhake said.
Party Vice Chair Julian Rogers, who was also elected to his post in 2023, announced he also won’t seek reelection to leadership, but will resume a previous role he held as vice chair of the party’s committee on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging.
Democratic State Committee members will vote for the party’s next leaders in elections to be held on Sunday, Jan. 26.
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Special to Seacoastonline | news@seacoastonline.com
AUGUSTA, Maine — Secretary of State Shenna Bellows was sworn into office for her third term Wednesday. Governor Janet Mills conducted the formal swearing-in of all the constitutional officers, which includes Bellows, State Treasurer Joseph Perry, Attorney General Aaron Frey and State Auditor Matthew Dunlap. In her remarks following the swearing-in, Bellows shared a message of transparency and accessibility in continuing to serve the people of Maine. “It is incumbent upon us as elected officials to make government work for the people of Maine,” Bellows said. “We must reduce bureaucracy, improve efficiency, modernize our systems, and above all, bring people together in community to make life better for the people of Maine.”
The Department of the Secretary of State includes three bureaus: The Maine State Archives, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions.
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Bellows emphasized her commitment to ensuring free, safe, and secure elections, modernizing government services, and preserving Maine’s history through the State Archives. She highlighted the importance of standing up for the rule of law and democracy, referring to the legacy of Civil War General Joshua Chamberlain and referencing the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. “This is our Chamberlain moment. We must stand up for the rule of law and do the right thing even when it is hard. As your Secretary of State, I pledge to always ensure that we have free, safe and secure elections and that we adhere to the Constitution and the rule of law in every aspect of everything that we do,” said Bellows. Bellows, Maine’s 50th Secretary of State, previously served two terms in the Maine Senate from 2016-2020 and was the executive director of the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine before her election in 2021.
An endangered rabbit can be found in seven towns in Maine, two more than just six years ago, and the number of colonies has more than doubled to 46 known sites in that time, according to the state’s small mammal biologist.
The native New England cottontail rabbit, which is on the Endangered Species list, is found in southern Maine, but its non-native invasive species cousin the Eastern cottontail is rapidly gaining ground, said Cory Stearns, small mammal biologist.
The two species eat similar foods, the main difference being where they live. Easterns will live closer to people under decks or porches or other human structures and are less timid about open space. That allows them to proliferate in areas where the native species won’t because they prefer to hide in bushes and thickets.
The concern is that the Easterns will dominate, making it harder for the New Englands to rebound, Stearns said. Because of that and the state’s ongoing research and monitoring program, biologists are asking Maine residents to report any sightings of the two species of rabbits.
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It’s difficult to tell them apart, but often the Eastern cottontail will have a white spot on its forehead. It also has bigger eyes that give them more side vision, he said.
It’s much easier to tell them apart from snowshoe hares in the winter. Snowshoes turn white, allowing them to hide in plain sight on the snow, while rabbits are brown year-round, Stearns said.
The New England cottontail saw its highest numbers in the 1960s when there were a lot of abandoned farms that provided thickets for hiding places. As the forest grew up and matured around those areas, the bushes and hidey-holes disappeared.
It now can be found in Cape Elizabeth, York, Wells, Scarborough, Kittery, Eliot and Kennebunk.
The low point was in 2018, when there were only 21 sites populated by the New England rabbits. The Easterns were first spotted in Maine in 2017 in Portland, Old Orchard Beach, the Berwicks and Wells.
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The scientists collect rabbit feces, called pellets, for genetic testing to determine which species is inhabiting a space. They also can figure out how many individuals are in a colony.
If you want to help out by reporting a rabbit sighting, fill in this form on the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife website.
