Jared Golden
Jared Forrest Golden is an American politician and Marine Corps veteran serving as the U.S. representative for Maine's 2nd congressional district since 2019. A Democrat, he represents a district encompassing the northern four-fifths of the state, including the cities of Lewiston, Bangor, and Auburn, along with the state capital of Augusta. It is the largest district east of the Mississippi River. His district was carried by Donald Trump in both the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections, making it a politically competitive area. Golden concurrently won his district both times.
Golden, along with Angus King and Chellie Pingree, were the first members of Congress to be elected by ranked-choice voting. He is the only representative to win after initially placing second in the first round of tabulation. Golden was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as a United States Marine. A self-described progressive conservative, Golden previously served as a co-chair of the Blue Dog Coalition.
On November 5, 2025, Golden announced he would not seek re-election in 2026.
Early life and education
Golden was born in Lewiston, Maine, and raised in Leeds. He attended Leavitt Area High School before enrolling at the University of Maine at Farmington, but left after a year to join the United States Marine Corps in 2002.Golden served with the 3rd Battalion of the 6th Marines, completing two combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He rose to the rank of corporal and received the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for his performance during Operation Steel Curtain. He left the Marines in 2006.
Upon returning to Maine, Golden earned a degree in history and politics from Bates College. He then worked for an international logistics firm before joining the staff of Republican senator Susan Collins on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Maine House of Representatives
Golden returned to Maine in 2013 to work for the House Democratic Office in the Maine Legislature. As a Democrat, he ran for and was elected to the Maine House of Representatives in 2014, representing part of the city of Lewiston.Golden was reelected in 2016. In the subsequent legislative session, he became Assistant House Majority Leader. Golden chaired the Elections Committee and the Joint Select Committee on Joint Rules.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2018
On August 24, 2017, Golden announced his candidacy against Bruce Poliquin to serve in the United States House of Representatives for. On June 20, 2018, he was declared the winner of the Democratic primary, defeating environmentalist Lucas St. Clair and bookstore owner Craig Olson.On election night, Golden trailed Poliquin by 2,000 votes. As neither candidate won a majority, Maine's newly implemented ranked-choice voting system called for the votes of independents Tiffany Bond and William Hoar to be redistributed to Poliquin or Golden in accordance with their voters' second choice. The independents' supporters ranked Golden as their second choice by an overwhelming margin, allowing him to defeat Poliquin by 3,000 votes after the final tabulation. He is the first challenger to unseat an incumbent in the district since 1916.
Poliquin opposed the use of ranked-choice voting in the election and claimed to be the winner due to his first-round lead. He filed a lawsuit in federal court to have ranked-choice voting declared unconstitutional and to have himself declared the winner. Judge Lance E. Walker rejected all of Poliquin's arguments and upheld the certified results. Poliquin appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and requested an order to prevent Golden from being certified as the winner, but the request was rejected. On December 24, Poliquin dropped his lawsuit, allowing Golden to take the seat.
2020
Golden ran for reelection in 2020 and won the Democratic primary unopposed. His Republican opponent was Dale Crafts, a former Maine representative. Most political pundits expected Golden to win the general election easily; polling showed him ahead of Crafts by an average of about 19%, Sabato's Crystal Ball and The Cook Political Report both rating the contest as "Likely Democratic", and analysis website FiveThirtyEight predicted that Golden had a 96 out of 100 chance of winning, with Golden garnering nearly 57% of the vote in their projection of the most likely scenario.In November, Golden defeated Crafts 53%–47%. President Donald Trump carried the district in that same election.
2022
Golden ran for reelection in 2022 and won the Democratic primary unopposed. Redistricting pushed the 2nd further into Kennebec County. Notably, he picked up Augusta, which had long been part of the 1st district.Golden faced former Republican congressman Bruce Poliquin, whom he narrowly beat in 2018, and independent Tiffany Bond, who also ran for the 2nd congressional district seat in 2018. In July, Golden was endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, Maine's largest police union, which "split the ticket" by also endorsing former Republican governor Paul LePage. Polls again showed Golden with a lead, but many organizations rated the seat as a "tossup", as incumbent president Joe Biden was unpopular and inflation was approaching 40-year highs; Decision Desk HQ even gave the seat a "Leans Republican" rating. Nonetheless, Golden led the field in the first round, and defeated Poliquin 53%–47% after Bond's second-choice votes mostly flowed to him.
2024
Golden won a fourth term in Congress. He very narrowly defeated Republican state representative Austin Theriault, who was endorsed by Donald Trump.Golden's district was again concurrently carried by Trump in the 2024 United States presidential election in Maine.
Tenure
Golden was sworn in on January 3, 2019. During the election for speaker of the House, he voted against Democratic Caucus nominee Nancy Pelosi, as he had pledged to do during his campaign, instead casting his vote for Representative Cheri Bustos of Illinois. Golden voted in 2019 for Article I of the articles of impeachment against Donald Trump but was one of three Democrats to vote against Article II.Golden endorsed Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado during the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries.
Golden represents the second-most rural district in the United States, with 72% of its population living in rural areas. The district also has the second-highest proportion of non-Hispanic White residents. Only Kentucky's 5th congressional district exceeds it in the two categories. Additionally, his district was carried by Donald Trump in 2020, the only district in New England to do so.
On November 5, 2025, Golden, stating that he had "grown tired of the increasing incivility and plain nastiness" of contemporary politics, announced he would not seek re-election in the 2026 election.
Committee assignments
For the 119th Congress:- Committee on Armed Services
- * Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations
- * Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces
- Committee on Natural Resources
- * Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
- * Subcommittee on Federal Lands
- * Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries
Caucus memberships
- Blue Dog Coalition
- Congressional Equality Caucus
- For Country Caucus
- Problem Solvers Caucus
Political positions
Tariffs
In 2025, Golden was one of the only Democrats in Congress to openly support President Donald Trump's tariff policy. He criticized his party's perceived shift toward defending free trade deals and the stock market and "coming out strongly" against Trump's tariffs, advocating instead for a populist approach of "progressive conservatism." Golden expressed concern over Trump backing down from his tariff policy, telling Axios, "My biggest worry is that they're going to do this and lose faith and political will and back away." He opposed Democratic Representative Greg Meeks' measure in the house to "kill Trump's tariffs".In January 2025, Golden introduced legislation that would put a universal 10% tariff on all imports into the U.S. His stance put him at odds with House Democrats. Golden also dismissed the 2025 stock market crash that followed President Trump's tariffs saying, "The vast majority of Americans have no stocks."