Bangor state Sen. Joe Baldacci launched his run for Maine’s open 2nd Congressional District on Monday, becoming the latest Democrat to join a crowded primary for the right to represent the conservative-leaning half of the state.
The district has been one of the nation’s top battlegrounds for more than a decade. U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a centrist Democrat, announced in November that he would not run in 2026, making former Gov. Paul LePage the prohibitive favorite to take the seat back for Republicans.
Protecting Golden was one of the biggest priorities for national Democrats. Party members in both Washington and Maine have struggled to unite around a candidate since his exit. Baldacci is not likely to frighten LePage or immediately push other candidates aside but is a proven commodity in the Bangor area from a prominent family.
“I think that there is a need for a fighter in this who can take the fight to the Republicans,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Bangor Daily News ahead of his Monday campaign launch at Orono Brewing Co. in downtown Bangor.
The 60-year-old lawyer is now among three candidates with political ties to enter the Democratic primary. State Auditor Matt Dunlap entered the race before Golden’s exit, and former U.S. Senate candidate Jordan Wood flipped into the 2nd District primary in November. Political newcomer Paige Loud of Old Town is also running.
Baldacci is the youngest of eight children. His brother, John Baldacci, held the 2nd District seat from 1995 to 2003 and was governor for eight years after that. Their parents, Robert and Rosemary, owned Momma Baldacci’s restaurant. John often repeated as a maxim a question that his father gave him in elected office: “So what have you done for the people today?”
The younger Baldacci briefly joined the 2nd District race in 2016, but he backed out before a Democratic primary with Emily Cain, who lost that year for the second consecutive time to former Rep. Bruce Poliquin. Golden, a Marine veteran, beat the incumbent two years later.
Baldacci is a longtime local politician in Bangor, serving 12 years as a city councilor in two stints between 1996 and 2017. During his latter term, he was a frequent critic of LePage policies, including cuts to local aid and plans to overhaul the state mental health complex in Bangor.
Baldacci has easily won three Maine Senate elections since 2020 representing his heavily Democratic city as well as the conservative town of Hermon. He has been a generally reliable member of his party in Augusta but has broken with Gov. Janet Mills on labor issues and others.
Some of them are specific to Bangor, which has one of the state’s two casinos. He led a successful effort to give brick-and-mortar facilities control of in-person sports betting after Mills advanced a deal with tribes lacking that guarantee. He has joined Republicans to support separating the child welfare office from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.
Baldacci cited his strong victories in saying he can win over independents and disaffected Republicans. He still previewed a more liberal tack than Golden. For example, he said he would have backed former President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” social spending bill, which Golden voted against in 2021.
“I understand what path he took,” he said of Golden. “I’m going to take my own path.”
In a statement, LePage’s campaign noted his lead in public polls so far. Other Republicans decried Baldacci’s votes with Democrats on issues including limiting police cooperation with immigration officials.
“Matt Dunlap, Jordan Wood, and Joe Baldacci have one thing in common: they are pandering to their extreme liberal base, which is out of step with the Maine people,” Assistant Maine Senate Minority Leader Matt Harrington, R-Sanford, LePage’s son-in-law, said in a statement released by the Maine Republican Party.