Golden Holds Off Challenge in Maine, Denying House G.O.P. a Key Pickup

Golden Holds Off Challenge in Maine, Denying House G.O.P. a Key Pickup

Representative Jared Golden, a three-term Democrat, defeated Austin Theriault, a former NASCAR driver, in one of a handful of districts held by Democrats that Donald J. Trump won in 2020.

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By Maya C. Miller

Maya C. Miller, who covers Congress, traveled to Maine’s Second Congressional District last month to report on the race.

Representative Jared Golden, a three-term Democrat from Maine, has defeated his Republican challenger, Austin Theriault, a former NASCAR driver and northern Maine native, The Associated Press declared on Friday.

Mr. Golden’s narrow victory in his largely white, rural and working-class district — one of five Democratic-held districts that Donald J. Trump won in 2020 — was a bright spot for Democrats and will help ensure that the Republicans’ House majority in the next Congress remains exceedingly narrow.

Mr. Golden toiled throughout the campaign to distance himself from other Democrats, declining to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris or even say whether he would vote for her. Instead, with the hope of defying political gravity and overcoming party polarization, the congressman emphasized a hyperlocal and nonpartisan message aimed at working-class people of all political stripes. He campaigned as a potential governing partner with Mr. Trump, saying he could work with whoever won the White House.

For House Republicans, Mr. Theriault’s loss underlined Mr. Golden’s status as one of the Democrats’ most battle-tested members. A native of Fort Kent, a town on the northernmost border of the state, Mr. Theriault, 30, portrayed himself as a “true Mainer” — his typical outfit includes jeans, a baseball cap and a puffer vest over a button-down shirt — and small-business owner who was approachable. He had the full-throated support of Mr. Trump as well as Speaker Mike Johnson, who headlined a rally with Mr. Theriault for an office opening in August.

Mr. Golden and his campaign worked to portray Mr. Theriault as a rubber stamp for the House Republicans’ agenda, which Mr. Golden argued was too extreme for Mainers. To make up for his thin political résumé, Mr. Theriault, a first-term state representative, avoided committing to specific policies and instead centered his bid on the assertion that Mr. Golden had “gone Washington” and lost touch with his district.

Mr. Theriault also sought to make gun rights an issue in the race. After a mass shooting last year in his hometown of Lewiston, Mr. Golden — one of the few Democrats in Congress who has routinely broken with his party to oppose gun control measures — changed course and endorsed an assault weapons ban. He lost the backing of the National Rifle Association, and Mr. Theriault argued that Mr. Golden’s change of heart on guns showed that he was out of step with his district.