The Jared Golden Endorsement

Why House Democrats' biggest over-performer can help create a Democratic majority this November.

Rep. Jared Golden is an electoral outlier, as the only Democrat in the House to win three elections in a Trump district. Since 2018, some Trump district Democrats lost, others faced redistricting that drew them out of their districts, and others ran for higher office. Through it all, Golden remains in his seat in Maine’s 2nd congressional district.

How does he do it? It’s probably not a coincidence that Golden broke from Biden more than other Democrats, voting with Biden only 88% of the time ahead of the 2022 midterm election. And while 88% seems like a high percentage of alignment, no Democrat broke more often with Biden. 

This year, he’ll face his toughest challenge yet. Forecasters have placed his odds for reelection at roughly 50%, which is an even lower likelihood than what they gave him in 2022. The challenge this cycle is Golden’s test of winning a Trump district in a presidential election year. But given his unique brand of independent Democratic politics, coined progressive conservatism, we believe Golden can pull it off.

Why Jared Golden Can Win

Jared Golden has broken a hyper-partisan mold: over the summer, he was polling at a +20 net favorability in his district, while Biden was losing Maine by 20 points. 

He picks his battles strategically, voting against a number of gun control policies and famously voting against Build Back Better because it added too much to the national debt. 

Golden was also a staunch opponent of the Biden student debt cancellation plans – plans that did little to nothing for his constituents. Instead of canceling student debt, Golden has focused on issues that help blue collar workers, such as securing millions for logging apprenticeships and shipbuilder training. He’s been focused on supporting Maine’s lobstermen, with policies on catch sizes, and rural communities, by opposing Post Office consolidation. 

He’s an advocate for border security and law enforcement and worked in a bipartisan manner on real border security legislation. His approach has worked, and he’s consistently won the support of law enforcement.  

Golden is also an advocate for what he calls “progressive conservatism,” a political framing that rejects the left-right political spectrum: “Left-Right politics tells us we must join a partisan team. Rejecting it frees us to join voters in attacking the root challenges that fuels their anger and frustration. Anyone in any party who does that will be able to overcome the challenges of partisanship and polarization. That’s the promise of progressive conservatism.”

We wrote about scripted remarks Rep. Golden shared at WelcomeFest in July, which you can check out here.

The District

In 2020, Trump won Maine’s 2nd congressional district by 51.6% to Biden’s 45.5% (Trump +6) after winning 50.6% to 41.6% in 2016 (Trump +9). To win the seat, Golden defeated Bruce Poloquin in 2018. Poloquin famously flip flopped on repealing the Affordable Care Act. For months as House Republicans worked to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Poliquin refused to take a position, and finally announced his support on a conference call with reporters less than an hour before the vote. Golden said that act of cowardice was what motivated him to run for Congress. Golden has also benefited from ranked choice voting, which allows for third party voters to select a second choice. 

The Republican Challenger

How far out there is Donald Trump foot soldier Austin Theriault, who won the Republican primary for Maine’s 2nd District? A Republican state representative, Theriault’s colleague in the House, resigned the next day, writing, “I don’t want to be within 1,000 yards of anything Austin Theriault.” Mainers don’t generally take well to being told what to do by outsiders, and Theriault, who spent nearly half his life outside the state, received heavy backing from Trump and national Republicans. 

Theriault identifies as pro-life, praised the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision and would restrict abortion access statewide. He is no friend of the rule of law, jumping to Trump’s defense after Trump was convicted. 

Join Us

Support Jared Golden and help him keep Maine’s 2nd district blue in November via our Win the Middle slate.