First-term Rep. Jared Golden will face former state representative and Lisbon, Maine council member Dale Crafts in Maine's 2nd congressional district.
First-term Rep. Jared Golden will face former state representative and Lisbon, Maine council member Dale Crafts in Maine's 2nd congressional district.
Golden is a former state legislator and US Marine veteran who defeated a Republican to flip the seat to Democratic control in the 2018 midterm elections.
He's a member of a group of politically moderate military and national security veterans elected to Congress in the 2018 midterms from districts President Donald Trump carried in 2016, along with Reps. Abigail Spanberger and Elaine Luria of Virginia, Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, and Rep. Max Rose of New York, among others.
In addition to winning the seat back for Democrats, Golden was also the first member of the House elected with Maine's relatively new ranked-choice voting system for federal elections.
Crafts served in the Maine House of Representatives from 2008 to 2016, and is also a business owner. After becoming paralyzed in a motorcycle accident in 1983, Crafts created a company called Mobility Plus, which works on innovating ways for people with disabilities to more easily drive.
Crafts beat out State Senator Eric Brakey and Adrienne Bennett, a realtor who previously served as press secretary to former GOP Gov. Paul LePage, in Maine's July 14 primaries.
Maine's second district, which occupies most of the state's geographical landmass and is heavily rural and working-class. It flipped from voting for former President Barack Obama by 9 percentage points in 2012 to vote for Trump by 10 points in 2016.
Maine's second district also plays an important role in the electoral college, and will receive a significant amount of attention in the presidential race.
Maine, along with Nebraska, allocates its electoral college votes proportionally, with two allocated based on the statewide results and each congressional district accounting for one electoral college vote.
Golden, a talented fundraiser, has built up an impressive war chest and far outpaces Crafts, who only recently secured the nomination in mid-July.
Golden has raised over $2.7 million this cycle and spent $690,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, compared to a little over $335,000 raised for Crafts. Golden currently has over $2.1 million in cash on hand compared to around $32,000 for Crafts.
The Cook Political Report and Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia have rated the race as a tossup while Inside Elections rates it as tilting Democratic.
In the electoral college, Maine's second district is rated as a tossup by the Cook Political Report and Inside Elections, and lean Republican by Sabato's Crystal Ball.
