AUGUSTA, Maine — Rep. Jared Golden outraised former Rep. Bruce Poliquin this spring in their high-profile race in Maine’s swing 2nd District, though the two have the same amount of money left entering peak campaign season.
The congressional race may be overshadowed in November by the gubernatorial election featuring incumbent Janet Mills and former Gov. Paul LePage, but fundraising in the 2nd District contest is on pace to shatter the record-setting 2018 mark set by Golden and Poliquin. Independent Tiffany Bond, who ran in 2018, is also on the November ballot.
Golden, a second-term Democrat, raised $975,000 between April and the end of June to roughly $600,000 for Poliquin, a Republican who was ousted by Golden in 2018 after serving two terms, according to their campaigns. Both had roughly $2.3 million on hand on June 30.
The incumbent’s campaign has already raised more than $4 million for the campaign to Poliquin’s $2.8 million. The Republican got a late start after launching his return bid in August. Updated fundraising figures are due to the Federal Election Commission by Friday.
Golden and Poliquin’s 2018 race set a Maine record at the time with more than $23 million spent between candidates and outside groups, according to OpenSecrets. It is still the most expensive House race in state history.
This one should be pricier. Republicans are poised to make gains in a midterm election for the unpopular President Joe Biden, a Democrat who lost the 2nd District to former President Donald Trump. FiveThirtyEight gives Republicans an 87 percent chance of a House takeover, though it deems the Golden-Poliquin race a toss-up with the incumbent polling well so far.