Race for Maine's 2nd District

With early voting beginning as early as October 4th in many communities, Mainers face an exciting race for the 2nd Congressional District seat.

On Thursday evening, incumbent Democrat and U.S. Marine veteran Jared Golden took on Republican challenger and former NASCAR driver Austin Theriault in a televised debate.

Both candidates traded blows over issues that emerged during the campaign, including Maine's economy, the tragic mass shooting in Lewiston nearly a year ago and both candidates' views on the national presidential race that will be decided next month.

Recent polls show Golden in a statistical dead heat with Theriault. An Atlantic Research poll in mid-September showed Theriault ahead of Golden 47% to 44%, with a margin of error of 3.5%.

Golden is used to limit victories, both in the first run six years ago and in previous re-election bids. He defeated Republican challenger Bruce Poliquin in 2018 and 2022 and Republican Dale Crafts in 2020, each by less than 10 percentage points.

But Theriault has become strong. Throughout 2024, his campaign has missed no opportunity to negatively influence voters against Golden, challenging him on issues ranging from support for President Joe Biden to his undeclared support of Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris to the war between Israel and Hamas are enough.

During the debate, Golden said he would not vote for former President Donald Trump, but still declined to declare his support for Harris.

“I think people are hungry for local opinion to inform national opinion, not the other way around,” Golden said.

Theriault, however, said he would vote for Trump and said Golden should tell the public where he stands.

“It’s about who you support,” Theriault said. “It shows judgment. It shows the ability to stand up when you believe something is right.”

Recently, both candidates brought the issue of gun ownership to the table, starting with Golden, whose campaign held an online press conference on Sept. 9 to announce the launch of Sportsmen for Golden, a grassroots coalition of more than 100 “hunters, anglers and others.” Trappers” supporting the congressman.

The announcement came just days after the National Rifle Association, which gives Golden an “F” rating, released an attack ad in which a snarky announcer called the congressman “Jared 'Gun Control' Golden.” Golden has faced criticism of gun rights since he said he now supports a ban on assault weapons following the mass shooting that killed 18 people in Lewiston on Oct. 25, 2023.

Just hours after Golden's Sept. 9 press conference, the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine distanced itself from the grassroots group and Golden on Facebook, saying, “We have not endorsed Jared Golden and have no plans to endorse him.”

On September 19, Theriault responded to Golden starting his own grassroots gun rights support group, which he called “Athletes for Austin.” He then released a video ad in which he spoke at a podium surrounded by supporters holding signs that read “Athletes for Theriault.” In it, he accused Golden of “flip-flopping,” a common criticism of the congressman, this time of Second Amendment rights.

During Thursday night's debate, Golden defended his decision to support a ban on assault weapons.

“It's true, I used to oppose the assault weapons ban, and after 18 people were murdered (and 13 injured) in Lewiston, I simply changed my mind,” he said.

Theriault countered that a gun ban would not prevent similar tragedies. He said the state needs to improve how it deals with mental illness at the local level, saying “we have failed you” when it comes to community mental health care.

“I will make sure we find the root cause of these problems and address them so we don’t have to go through this again,” he said.

When asked how their respective candidates felt as they entered the home stretch of such a close race, the Golden campaign did not respond at all to Spectrum News. Preya Samsundar, a spokeswoman for Theriault's campaign, issued a statement again criticizing Golden, saying voting for Theriault “means supporting the son of a Fort Kent logging family who will defy his party to win Social Security and… Protecting Medicare and putting people above politics.”