Penobscot County Democrats delayed a vote on a resolution denouncing the party’s congressional campaign arm for endorsing state Sen. Joe Baldacci in the four-way primary in Maine’s 2nd District.
The item was a response to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Monday move to provide campaign support to Baldacci ahead of the June 9 primary for the right to take on former Republican Gov. Paul LePage. State Auditor Matt Dunlap, former political operative Jordan Wood and social worker Paige Loud are also in the primary.
It became a pitched issue for Democrats in the region, where Baldacci of Bangor and Dunlap of Old Town have established political networks. Dunlap irked national Democrats by launching a primary campaign against U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, who held a seat won three times by President Donald Trump but abandoned his bid for a fifth term in November.
The county party met Saturday to consider the resolution criticizing the party. But members declined to vote on it following speeches by Dunlap, Wood and Baldacci operative Jared Bornstein, a veteran of Golden’s political operation. Local Democrats won’t meet again until after the primary.
The resolution was brought forward by former Maine Senate President Charlie Pray, a Dunlap backer from Millinocket who called House Democrats’ intervention in the primary unfair. But members thought it “needed a little more work,” Dan Tremble, a Bangor city councilor and county commissioner who attended the meeting, said.
“The stakes of this election couldn’t be higher: we need to defeat Paul LePage, take back the House, and hold Donald Trump accountable,” Baldacci said in a statement thanking the committee for shelving the item.
In a statement after the vote, Dunlap criticized Baldacci for not coming to the meeting, calling his campaign the progressive one Mainers are rallying behind “even if it’s not the one DC insiders wanted.” Wood said Democrats don’t want the national party deciding the election.
“Mainers will decide this election, not Washington DC,” he said.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner overcame a similar endorsement from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, for Gov. Janet Mills, who exited the primary last month. Platner is now the presumptive nominee to face U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in November, although 2024 Senate nominee David Costello is still in the primary.
LePage enters the race as the frontrunner. A poll released Friday by national Republicans’ campaign arm showed him 10 points up on both Baldacci and Dunlap, representing a pickup opportunity for the party. Democrats are currently favored to win the House in a midterm year for Trump, whose approval has sagged under the weight of the Iran war and high costs.