Rep. Jared Golden won’t seek reelection

Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), a moderate Democrat representing a district President Trump won in 2024, announced Wednesday he will not seek reelection.

Golden announced his decision in an opinion column in the Bangor Daily News, citing the “increasing incivility and plain nastiness” in American politics, concerns about political violence, and his desire to spend time with his family.

“After much deliberation, I have decided not to seek reelection in 2026,” the lawmaker wrote. “I am forever grateful for the honor of serving my constituents in Congress, and proud of what I’ve accomplished for Maine. But recently, it became clear that now is the right time to step away from elected office.”

“I have never loved politics,” he continued. “But I find purpose and meaning in service, and the Marine in me has been able to slog along through the many aspects of politics I dislike by focusing on the good work that Congress is capable of producing with patience and determination.”

Golden said, however, that recent instances of political violence “have made me reassess the frequent threats against me and my family.”

"As a father, I have to consider whether the good I can achieve outweighs everything my family endures as a result,” he wrote.

The centrist Democrat — who has frequently bucked his party on key votes — also cited “this unnecessary, harmful shutdown” and the way both parties have engaged in “nonstop, hyperbolic accusation and recriminations” as revealing of “just how broken Congress has become.”

Golden, one of the most centrist Democrats in Congress, notably broke with his party in September as the lone House Democrat to support a GOP stopgap funding measure, which failed to garner sufficient support in the Senate to stave off the shutdown.

Golden expressed concern about the future of his own party. He recalled seeing the Republican Party get “hijacked first by Tea Party obstructionists and then by the MAGA movement and its willingness to hand much of Congress’ authority to the president.”

“I fear Democrats are going down the same path,” he wrote, pointing to the shutdown as the latest example. "We’re allowing the most extreme, pugilistic elements of our party to call the shots."

The announcement Wednesday comes as a shock to political observers, after Golden announced in May he would seek reelection, forgoing a statewide campaign for governor or senator.

Golden said he’s confident he would win reelection, but he no longer wishes to serve.

“I don’t fear losing,” he wrote. "What has become apparent to me is that I now dread the prospect of winning. Simply put, 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.”

Golden called for his successor to continue his tradition of “opposing the forces of polarization” in Congress, representing the “robust ideological diversity” of Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, without catering to either party’s extremes.

"I still believe, perhaps more than ever, that politics can be a positive force. But having devoted decades of my life to service, I look forward to my next chapter: raising my young daughters with Izzy — who has shouldered more than her fair share of caring for our family and our home for years — and spending more time with our family and friends,” he wrote.

"I am forever grateful for the trust bestowed on me by my fellow Mainers in the 2nd District to be their voice in Washington. To them I can only say: Thank you."

Updated at 4:07 p.m.