National parties reserve millions for ads ahead of Maine’s 2nd District showdown

AUGUSTA, Maine — National campaign arms for Republicans and Democrats have set aside $4 million for ads targeting Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, putting the swing district at the center of the House map ahead of November.

The election between third-term U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Lewiston, and state Rep. Austin Theriault, R-Fort Kent, is considered to be among roughly 30 races that will decide which party holds the chamber now run by Republicans by only a narrow 219-213 majority.

Golden stands out as one of just five Democrats in districts won by former President Donald Trump in 2020. On Thursday, House Republicans’ campaign arm announced that it will devote more than a quarter of its initial $45.7 million in ad reservations to those five districts, allocating nearly $2.5 million to Maine’s three media markets in Portland, Bangor and Presque Isle.

Their Democratic counterpart already prioritized the 2nd District in a $28 million first round of reservations announced last week . Nearly $1.8 million goes to defending Golden. Parties typically add or subtract spending based on how candidates perform, but these reservations should amount to a large chunk of overall spending by the groups through Election Day.

The race between Golden and Theriault always figured to be one of the biggest ones in the country. The Republican easily won his June primary after being endorsed by Trump, who is back on the ballot for the third straight election in a rematch with President Joe Biden.

Golden has proven durable in his past three elections. Weeks ahead of Election Day in 2020, national Republicans effectively pulled out of his race with former state Rep. Dale Crafts, R-Lisbon. The congressman split the district with Trump at the top of the ticket, narrowly outpolling him despite Trump endorsing his opponent .

Former U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, a Republican ousted by Golden in 2018, came back in 2022 for a rematch. Outside groups spent a record $22 million on the race, but Golden won it again by a comfortable six percentage points after a ranked-choice tally.

Since then, the congressman has burnished his centrist credentials, voting against Biden more than any other House Democrat in 2023. Theriault has centered his campaign on two examples of Golden aligning with Democrats: when he supported a ban on so-called assault weapons after the October mass shooting in Lewiston and his 2022 vote for the Inflation Reduction Act .