Top GOP Target Won’t Run For Reelection After Facing Leftist Challenger

Democrat Rep. Jared Golden of Maine announced Wednesday that he will not seek reelection after facing a primary challenge from the left and lagging in recent polls against his Republican opponent.

Golden was considered one of the most vulnerable House Democrats, representing a district President Donald Trump won by nine percentage points in the 2024 presidential election. Citing recent political violence and the ongoing government shutdown, Golden said he had “grown tired of the increasing incivility and plain nastiness that are now common from some elements of our American community.”

“I don’t fear losing. What has become apparent to me is that I now dread the prospect of winning,” Golden wrote in the Bangor Daily News, announcing his decision. “Simply put, what I could accomplish in this increasingly unproductive Congress pales in comparison to what I could do in that time as a husband, a father and a son.” (RELATED: Vulnerable Democrat Representative’s New Rhetoric On Gender Ideology Doesn’t Match Left-Wing Voting Record)

“If I were to continue my campaign, I would prevail,” Golden wrote. But an October survey from Pine Tree State Poll showed Golden trailing former Republican Maine Gov. Paul LePage, 49% to 44% among likely voters. Only about a quarter of respondents — and just 51% of Democrats — said said should be reelected to serve another two-year term.

Golden, who has held the seat since 2019, faced a primary challenge from Maine State Auditor Matt Dunlap, who criticized the incumbent for cooperating with Republicans on some issues.

Throughout his tenure, Golden had sought to cultivate a moderate brand, breaking with Democratic leadership on several high-profile pieces of legislation this year. He was the only Democrat to join House Republicans in voting to fund the government on two occasions in March and September, and he also backed a GOP bill, widely opposed by his Democratic colleagues, that would require Americans to prove citizenship to vote.

Golden added that recent political violence — including the attempts on Trump’s life, the firebombing of Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home, the assassination of Democratic Minnesota lawmakers and the murder of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk — made him “reassess the frequent threats against me and my family.”

“Beyond these family considerations, my decision is motivated by the clarity recent months have provided about the state of our politics,” Golden continued. “This week, we passed a grim milestone, having endured the longest government shutdown in our nation’s history. This unnecessary, harmful shutdown and the nonstop, hyperbolic accusations and recriminations by both sides reveal just how broken Congress has become.”

The Maine Democrat generated headlines on the first day of the government shutdown on Oct. 1 when he argued that members of his party voted to shut down the government to curry favor with “far-left groups” and “put on a show of their opposition to President [Donald] Trump.”

In his retirement announcement, Golden said Democrats are “allowing the most extreme, pugilistic elements of our party to call the shots,” and that “too many Democrats have given in to demands that we use the same no-holds barred, obstructionary tactics as the GOP.”

Golden also characterized both his primary challenger, Dunlap, and Republican opponent LePage as “a far cry from being standard bearers of the generations that will inherit the legacy of today’s Congress.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) seized on Golden’s retirement, predicting an easy Republican pickup.

“Serial flip-flopper Jared Golden’s exit from Congress says it all: He’s turned his back on Mainers for years and now his chickens are coming home to roost,” NRCC Spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “He, nor any other Democrat, has a path to victory in ME-02 and Republicans will flip this seat red in 2026.”

Golden’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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