Copyright The New York Times
Representative Jared Golden of Maine, who holds the most Republican-leaning seat of any Democrat in the House, announced on Wednesday that he would not seek re-election in 2026. Mr. Golden, 43, had won re-election in his Maine district for three straight cycles after his 2018 victory, and is a leader of the moderate Blue Dog Coalition in the House. But Mr. Golden, who has bucked his party on key issues including the government shutdown, faced not only a serious primary challenger next year but also a potential general-election race against former Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican. Mr. Golden made his announcement in an opinion essay in The Bangor Daily News, writing that he had “grown tired of the increasing incivility and plain nastiness.” A retired Marine, Mr. Golden added that “recent incidents of political violence have made me reassess the frequent threats against me and my family.” He wrote that he spent last Thanksgiving in a hotel room after a threat against his home. He said his quitting was not driven by political considerations. “I don’t fear losing,” he wrote. “Regardless of what angry partisan commentators may say, I retain the trust of the coalition of Democrats, independents and Republicans that has repeatedly defied the trends of political polarization by electing me.” Mr. Golden was among the most moderate House Democrats, and was proudly the lone Democratic vote in the House for Republican-led legislation that would have kept the federal government open in September. He called for open Democratic and Republican primaries to replace him, arguing that Mr. LePage and his Democratic challenger, Matt Dunlap, were “a far cry from being standard bearers of the generations that will inherit the legacy of today’s Congress.” Mr. Golden’s unexpectedly early retirement is likely to take a seat that was already widely seen as a tossup and shift it further to favor Republicans.
