Copyright Bangor Daily News
U.S. Rep. Jared Golden is not sharing his stance on a “red flag law” referendum that Maine voters will settle Tuesday, while other politicians have competing views on the Election Day ballot questions. Golden, a Democrat from Maine’s 2nd District, stands out as the only high-profile figure up for reelection in 2026 who has not hinted at how he would vote on one of the two referendums facing voters, aside from U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican who does not typically weigh in on state-level issues. Question 2 asks Maine voters if they would like to create a red flag law similar to those found in 21 other states and Washington, D.C. It would allow family members to directly petition courts to temporarily remove guns from people deemed dangerous. Golden’s office said Monday it had no update on his Question 2 stance. He said in October he was against Question 1, a conservative-led effort to require photo identification when voting and to add new restrictions on absentee voting. The congressman faces a primary next year from State Auditor Matt Dunlap, while former Gov. Paul LePage is awaiting the winner as the Republican contender in the 2nd District. LePage said he is opposed to Question 2, while Dunlap, who previously led the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, said Friday he was “leaning no” on it because he felt police know how to better use Maine’s existing “yellow flag” statute after it was tweaked following the 2023 Lewiston mass shooting. If it passes, the new red flag process would exist alongside the yellow flag law that Gov. Janet Mills and advocates on both sides of the gun debate crafted in 2019. The current law requires that police take a person whose family members believe is a threat to themselves or others into protective custody before they receive a mental health evaluation and then go before a judge who can issue an order to temporarily take away their weapons. The yellow flag law had been used sparingly before the 2023 mass shooting in Lewiston in which an Army reservist killed 18 people and injured 13 others in the state’s deadliest-ever rampage. Increased awareness and legal tweaks have led Maine police’s use of it to surge since the shooting, but proponents of a red flag law have said the existing process is too cumbersome and does not give concerned family members the agency to act more directly. Other contenders in some of Maine’s high-profile 2026 elections made their stances public on both referendums. Mills, a Democrat who is seeking the chance to unseat Collins, is opposed to both questions. Graham Platner, the Sullivan oysterman who has led Mills in Democratic primary polling, is against the voter ID referendum and in favor of the red flag referendum, as is Jordan Wood, the former Capitol Hill operative from Bristol. Both Collins and U.S. Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats and who reelection last year, have not shared public stances on the referendums. Their offices noted that they generally do not take positions on “state issues.” U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a 1st District Democrat, is opposed to Question 1 and in favor of Question 2, her spokesperson said.
