AUGUSTA, Maine — U.S. Rep. Jared Golden raised nearly $2.2 million last year in his bid for a fourth term in Maine’s 2nd District, holding a large money lead over a state lawmaker who is far outpacing Republican primary foe.
Golden, a Democrat, began 2024 with $1.4 million left in his campaign account for a large head start on freshman state Reps. Austin Theriault of Presque Isle and Mike Soboleski of Phillips, who are vying for the Republican nomination in a conservative-leaning district that went twice to former President Donald Trump in the 2016 and 2020 elections.
Theriault, a former NASCAR driver, looks like the early favorite for their nod because he is backed by House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and the Republican campaign arm. But Golden retained a large money lead over both Republicans going into this year, in large part due to the two Theriault and Soboleski only declaring for the race in September.
Golden raised nearly $2.2 million in 2023, including $754,000 in the last quarter of the year, according to updated filings due to the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday. The incumbent’s total fundraising for last year was slightly over his pace going into 2022 in another nationally targeted race with former U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin.
Theriault hauled in $357,000 last year, with $338,000 of that left by December’s end. That is a solid total for a first-time candidate on the national stage, falling roughly in line with what Golden raised in this part of the primary season during a 2018 campaign in which he rose from a leadership role in the Maine House of Representatives to Congress.
Soboleski was lagging far behind Theriault. He raised only $50,000 and had spent roughly half of that entering 2024 with another $5,000 in debt to vendors. The candidate contributed more than $5,600 to his own campaign.
Both Golden and Theriault are getting fundraising help from their parties. The incumbent got more than $320,000 last year from political committees representing interest groups and prominent Democrats, while the Republican got $97,000 from similar sources. Soboleski got the vast majority of his money from individual donors.
It underscores a high-stakes race going into 2024. Golden is a centrist who voted less than half the time with Biden last year, according to ABC News. But he reversed himself to support a ban on so-called assault weapons after the Oct. 25 shooting in his home city of Lewiston, something that Republicans suspect could make him more vulnerable this year.