Moderate Democrat Jared Golden announces his retirement from the House of Representatives

Jared Golden announced he will not seek another term in the House of Representatives. The Democratic congressman from Maine communicated the news through an op-ed published in the local Bangor Daily News. Citing the political violence he and his family suffered, he asserted that "now is the right time to retire from elected office."

The 43-year-old is one of the key names in the House, being one of the most moderate among Democrats. He was even chairman of the 'Blue Dog Coalition,' a group of ten centrist and more conservative Democrats.

Golden has represented Maine's 2nd Congressional District since 2018, always winning his races by razor-thin margins. Even Donald Trump won this district in his three presidential elections. In 2024, the district voted for Trump by a nine percentage point difference, while Golden was re-elected by less than one point.

The congressman faced two challengers in his re-election bid. The first was Democrat Matthew Dunlap, who accused the congressman of being too centrist, while the second was former governor Paul LePage, who is running as a Republican.

In this context, Golden decided to withdraw his candidacy citing too much hostility toward him and his family members.

"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. My team and I have strived to stay above the fray and, for that, we can hold our heads high with appreciation for each other and the way we have gone about our work," he wrote.

To exemplify the political context he referred to, he mentioned the episodes against the home of Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, the double murder against the state legislators in Minnesota and the murder of activist Charlie Kirk in Utah: "In addition, recent incidents of political violence have led me to reevaluate the frequent threats against me and my family."

"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," the Democrat added.

Golden's withdrawal exponentially increases the GOP's chances of winning this seat. In this case, the best positioned candidate is former Governor LePage.