Though Maine has consistently voted for Democratic presidential candidates for the past three decades, its congressional delegation is ideologically diverse: it includes an independent senator who caucuses with Democrats, a moderate Republican senator, a liberal stalwart, and House Democrats’ most moderate member.
The 1st District, running along the southern coast, is comfortably blue, and longtime Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree should easily win reelection next year. But the rural 2nd District — the largest congressional district east of the Mississippi River — has hosted competitive races for the past decade. Even as Donald Trump has won it for the past three election cycles, Democratic Rep. Jared Golden has managed to win reelection, in large part by breaking with his own party on a slew of issues.
Like several of his predecessors in the 2nd — Olympia Snowe, John Baldacci, and William Cohen — Golden has statewide ambitions, and he seriously considered running for governor or Senate in 2026. (A Senate campaign was considerably less likely, since it would have pitted him against his onetime boss, GOP Sen. Susan Collins). But, to
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