Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, a perennial Republican target representing a rural Maine seat, has drawn a primary challenger in a potential wrinkle to his bid for a fifth term.
State Auditor Matthew Dunlap announced Monday that he is running for the state’s 2nd District, which Trump carried last year by 9 points as Golden was narrowly reelected.
“I’m not OK with Donald Trump as president. That’s why I’m running for Congress,” Dunlap said in a video launching his campaign.
Golden, a moderate Democrat who sometimes bucks his party on major votes, already faces a competitive reelection, with Republican former Gov. Paul LePage entering the race earlier this year.
Dunlap’s launch video took aim at both men, with the narrator referring to Golden as “bad” and LePage as “worse.”
A former Maine secretary of state and state representative, Dunlap said in the video that he would fight back against the Trump administration if elected to Congress, declaring his support for “‘Medicare for All,’ living wages, affordable housing [and] universal child care.”
His announcement comes after national Democrats had sought to discourage him from running. A source familiar with those talks confirmed that the House Democratic campaign arm had “expressed to both Dunlap and state party leadership that, unless Golden is the nominee, it could jeopardize the seat, national investment in Maine, and therefore the path to the majority.”
Golden, a member of the Blue Dog Coalition who most recently was the lone Democratic vote on House Republicans’ seven-week stopgap funding bill, said Dunlap wasn’t a match for the district’s “fiercely independent” political profile.
“If Matt Dunlap thinks this district will choose him over Paul LePage, he’s got another thing coming,” Golden said in a statement.
LePage, who served two terms as Maine governor from 2011 until 2019, launched his House campaign in May. More recently, he ran for his old job in 2022, challenging his Democratic successor, Janet Mills. While he lost that race by 13 points, he narrowly carried the 2nd District, according to calculations by Inside Elections.
Golden had previously been touted as a potential candidate for statewide office in 2026 but announced in May that he would seek reelection, saying the path for House Democrats to gain the majority ran through Maine.
“And I am going to do what it takes to make sure no one like Paul LePage blusters his way into Congress,” he said at the time.
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the 2nd District race Tilt Democratic.
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