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Conservative Dem Golden Won't Seek Reelection After Saying Democracy Would Be 'Fine' Under Trump Last Year
“He’s apparently quitting now because democracy isn’t ‘just fine,'” said one Maine professor.
Nov 05, 2025
US Rep. Jared Golden, a centrist Democrat from Maine who has backed President Donald Trump's policies on issues such as trade and immigration, announced on Wednesday that he would not be seeking another term in office.
In an editorial published by the Bangor Daily News, Golden said that he decided against running for office again because he had "grown tired of the increasing incivility and plain nastiness that are now common from some elements of our American community—behavior that, too often, our political leaders exhibit themselves."
Golden—the former Blue Dog Coalition co-chair with a history of voting with Republicans on various climate, military, and student debt relief policies—also said that he has become worried about political violence in the US that has targeted both lawmakers and activists in recent years.
"Last year we saw attempts against Donald Trump’s life, and more recently we witnessed the firebombing of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home, the assassination of Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota, and the horrific murder of Charlie Kirk," he explained. "These have made me reconsider the experiences of my own family, including all of us sitting in a hotel room on Thanksgiving last year after yet another threat against our home. There have been enough of those over the years to demand my attention."
Golden also emphasized that he was not worried about losing the next election, but had instead concluded that "what I could accomplish in this increasingly unproductive Congress pales in comparison to what I could do in that time as a husband, a father, and a son."
Maine State Auditor Matt Dunlap, who announced earlier this year that he would challenge Golden for the Democratic nomination in Maine's 2nd Congressional District, put out a statement on Wednesday before Golden announced that he would not seek another turn claiming that Democrats' sweeping wins in Tuesday's elections showed that US voters wanted representatives who would more assertively stand up to the president.
"Across the country, voters rejected fear and division," Dunlap said. "They’re not ‘okay with’ another Trump presidency like Jared Golden is. Golden was wrong to cave on the continuing resolution instead of protecting affordable healthcare."
The remark about Golden being "okay with" Trump is a reference to an editorial he published last year in which he said that Trump would win the 2024 election and that "democracy will be just fine" regardless.
Michael Socolow, a media historian at the University of Maine, noted the contrast between Golden's editorial last year in which he brushed aside concerns about a second Trump term, and his editorial this year lamenting how a lack of civility and threats of political violence had snuffed out his desire to have a career in politics.
"I wonder if he regrets his op-ed saying 'Democracy will be just fine' if Donald Trump won the 2024 election?" he wondered. "He's apparently quitting now because democracy isn't 'just fine.'"
While Golden was one of the most conservative Democrats in the US House, he also represented a district that has voted for Trump in three consecutive elections, and his retirement will likely make it harder for Democrats to keep the seat from flipping to Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections.
J. Miles Coleman, an associate editor at Sabato's Crystal Ball, wrote on X that Golden's retirement moves his district from a "toss-up" election to a "leans Republican" election next year.
Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage, a MAGA favorite and ardent Trump supporter, confirmed last month that he planned to run for Golden's seat.
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Maine Progressive Matt Dunlap Launches Bid for Jared Golden's US House Seat
"I’m running because Mainers deserve a fighter who won’t cave to Donald Trump. Jared Golden said Trump is ‘OK’ and that we’ll be ‘just fine’ but Mainers are being hurt by his policies."
Oct 06, 2025
Maine Auditor Matt Dunlap on Monday launched a Democratic primary campaign against US Rep. Jared Golden, citing the incumbent congressman's frequent siding with President Donald Trump and Republicans and promising a "People's Agenda" that centers working-class needs.
"I’m running because Mainers deserve a fighter who won’t cave to Donald Trump," Dunlap, who is also a former Maine secretary of state, said in a statement announcing his candidacy. "Jared Golden said Trump is ‘OK’ and that we’ll be ‘just fine’ but Mainers are being hurt by his policies."
"Golden has repeatedly sided with Trump, even when it means that healthcare costs will skyrocket for thousands of Mainers," Dunlap added. "When I’m in Congress, I’ll stand up for Maine, and I’ll fight for affordable healthcare, a lower cost of living, and higher wages for hardworking people.”
Dunlap's platform—which includes Medicare for All and universal childcare—stands in stark contrast with Golden's record as the sole House Democrat to vote against unemployment benefits, child tax credits, and affordable healthcare in the American Rescue Plan pandemic relief package signed by former President Joe Biden in 2021.
Golden was also the only House Democrat who voted for Republicans' government funding bill last month, blaming "hardball politics driven by the demands far-left groups" for the ongoing government shutdown.
Taking aim at both Golden and former Gov. Paul LePage, the likely Republican nominee, Dunlap said in his first campaign ad that "we can do better than bad and worse."
The ad also highlights Dunlap's purported accessibility, a sore spot among voters who accuse Golden of dodging his constituents by refusing to hold town hall meetings.
Dunlap faces a steep uphill battle in a district that Trump won by 9.6% in 2024.
“If Matt Dunlap thinks this district will choose him over Paul LePage, he’s got another thing coming,” Golden said in response to Monday's announcement.
LePage campaign spokesperson Brent Littlefield welcomed Dunlap's entry into the race, saying the progressive candidate "sees what we see, Jared Golden is hiding."
"From Aroostook to Oxford and every county in between, Maine people say they never see Jared Golden in their towns or communities," he added.
Dunlap already has a history of clashing with Trump. During his first term, the president appointed the then-secretary of state to a bipartisan panel tasked with investigating alleged voter fraud. Dunlap sued the commission to obtain files he said were being withheld from him. A judge ruled in his favor; Trump subsequently shut down the commission.
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Trump Acolyte LePage Given Green Light to Run for Third Term in Maine
"Between blocking healthcare access for tens of thousands, gutting our state's education and public health systems, and refusing to adequately address the opioid epidemic or rising property taxes, LePage's tenure was a disaster for Maine people," said the chair of the state's Democratic Party.
Feb 17, 2022
Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage, a far-right Republican who made openly racist comments about immigrants in the state and compared himself to former President Donald Trump during his time in office, has officially been approved to run for a third term.
"We can't let Paul LePage drag us backward once again."
LePage, who launched his campaign last July, submitted more than 2,000 signatures in support of his candidacy to state officials on Wednesday, meeting the requirements to run in the June primary. Maine laws prohibit governors from holding office for three consecutive terms, but former governors are permitted to seek a third term after leaving office. LePage is the first person to do so.
During his time as governor from 2011 to 2019, LePage said that "people of color or people of Hispanic origin" were "the enemy" in Maine's fight against the opioid epidemic, prompting calls for his resignation. He also reduced welfare benefits and oversaw a rapid rise in childhood poverty, and his administration denied healthcare coverage to tens of thousands of Mainers as he refused to enact the Medicaid expansion that was approved by voters.
LePage told the Maine Beacon on Thursday that if elected, he will not "repeal anything that is good for Maine people," referring to the Medicaid expansion, but added that he "will reinstate work [requirements]" for beneficiaries of the program.
"Between blocking healthcare access for tens of thousands, gutting our state's education and public health systems, and refusing to adequately address the opioid epidemic or rising property taxes, LePage's tenure was a disaster for Maine people," said Drew Gattine, chair of the Maine Democratic Party, on Wednesday. "We can't let Paul LePage drag us backward once again."
If he wins the Republican primary, LePage's main opponent is expected to be Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who has been fundraising aggressively but has not officially announced her plans to run for reelection.
On Wednesday, as he submitted the signatures in support of his run at the Maine State House, LePage criticized Mills over mask mandates in schools--despite the fact that the state government only recommends masking; mandates for school districts have been decided locally.
"Take the masks off the kids and let them be kids," LePage said. "I think parents are better equipped to deal with Covid than Janet Mills."
The former governor also sought to place blame for rising electricity prices with Mills, although experts say cost increases are linked to global trends, and attacked Mills' proposal to send $500 checks to about 800,000 Mainers, amounting to half of the state's $822 million revenue surplus.
LePage said the money should go towards income tax cuts, while Mills cited the nonpartisan Revenue Forecasting Committee's projections of potentially "volatile" long-term revenues, depending on the pandemic and other factors.
"The governor's office said a permanent tax cut with a short-lived surplus could potentially lead to scenarios of cutting spending or raising taxes down the road when the state no longer has a surplus budget," reported News Center Maine.
A Spectrum News/Ipsos poll released last September showed a 48% approval rating for Mills, with 54% of respondents saying they approved of her handling of the pandemic.
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