Moderate Democrat and Marine veteran wins re-election in Trump leaning congressional district
The Associated Press projects that Democratic Rep. Jared Golden will win re-election in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, a red-leaning district in an overall blue state, by defeating Republican challenger Austin Theriault.
He faced Republican Theriault, a former NASCAR driver, who’s a first-term state lawmaker who aimed to flip the seat from blue to red.
Golden, a Marine veteran who served combat tours in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraqi, is a moderate Democrat who is often at odds with his party and with President Biden’s administration.
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The congressman made headlines earlier this year when he said he “didn’t know” whether he would vote for Biden’s re-election and was one of the first Democrats in Congress to question the 81-year-old president’s mental and physical abilities to handle another four years in the White House.
Golden, who was first elected to Congress in 2018, has now won four straight elections in the swing district.
Maine and Nebraska are the only two states in the nation to allocate their electoral votes in presidential elections by congressional district. And while Maine is reliably blue in White House races, former President Trump carried Maine’s second district in both 2016 and 2020.
The mostly rural district, which comprises roughly 80% of Maine’s total land area, is the largest congressional district east of the Mississippi River.