Maine Rep calls it quits

Golden Announces He Won’t Seek Re-Election in 2026, Drops Out of Re-Election Bid

Golden’s actually a pretty decent guy, for a Democrat, but his seat has never been secure; one of the few remaining moderate Democrats, he actually received fewer votes than his Republican opponent in his first run in 2018 and squeaked in only after the state’s new ranked choice voting system credited him with a few thousand votes initially cast for third party candidates. The same process has kept him in office, barely, for his next two terms, but the polls were looking dismal for him coming into 2026.

So no real surprise here, but the reasons he cites for getting the hell out of politics seem entirely plausible and sensible, and, I think, reflect the current state of our bitterly divided national political scene. There’s no longer a place for moderates in either party (certainly, I don’t like RINOs myself), and that’s probably not a good thing. I’ve been reading a number of histories of the Civil War recently, and the increasingly hot, bitter atmosphere that was building in 1850-1860, culminating in Lincoln’s victory on November 6th of that final year seems eerily similiar to what we’re witnessing now.

In any event, here’s Golden:

Golden said that his announcement comes after lengthy deliberation and in response to the current political climate. He criticized both Republicans and Democrats for their tactics.

“My decision is motivated by the clarity recent months have provided about the state of our politics. This week, we passed a grim milestone, having endured the longest government shutdown in our nation’s history. This unnecessary, harmful shutdown and the nonstop, hyperbolic accusations and recriminations by both sides reveal just how broken Congress has become,” he said in his op-ed.

“But after 11 years as a legislator, I have 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,” he added.

He warned that he believes both parties are allowing themselves to be co-opted by extremists.

During his time in Congress and on the campaign trail, Golden has worked to portray himself as a moderate, frequently voting across the aisle, and has broken with the Democratic Party on some key issues, including tariffs, which he has spoken of favorably.

He also criticized his own party for forcing a government shutdown over what he called a policy issue that could be addressed in a less dramatic fashion.

Despite his bipartisan overtures, he remains a Democrat, and recently urged Mainers to reject the failed election integrity ballot question, claiming that the voter ID aspect was simply a way for proponents to push through the attached changes to absentee voting.

[He was right on this; what would have been, according to pre-election pols, an easy win for voter ID went down to defeat because the people pushing the measure tacked on a grab bag of restrictions on absentee voting, which, although fairly innocuous, garbled the issue, and allowed opponents to focus solely on those provisions while ignoring the ID issue — ed]

In his op-ed, Golden also cited personal reasons, including the safety of his family in the face of a growing climate of political violence.

“Recent incidents of political violence have made me reassess the frequent threats against me and my family,” said Golden.

“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,” he added.

Golden claimed that he has no doubt that if he did not drop out of the race, he would be victorious, but he said that he fears victory more than defeat in the upcoming high-stakes midterm.

“I have long supported term limits and while current law allows me to run again, I like the idea of ending my service in Congress after eight years — the length of term limits in the Maine Legislature,” he said.

Despite Golden’s claim that he has complete confidence in victory, a recent University of New Hampshire (UNH) Pine Tree State poll gave Republican challenger and former Maine Governor Paul LePage a notable five-point lead over the incumbent.

My guess is that, while he may have been wavering, it was the national Democrat party that gave him the fateful shove.