Politics
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National Democrats who wanted state Sen. Joe Baldacci of Bangor to face Republican former Gov. Paul LePage in a race for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District rallied behind State Auditor Matt Dunlap after he won the June primary.
With less than 100 days before Election Day, that support for Dunlap hasn’t yet come with some of the same funding and attention as other competitive races in the Democratic race to take the House. At the same time, LePage has been tabbed by prognosticators as the favorite.
The House Democrats’ campaign arm did not include Dunlap among its “Red to Blue” priority list of candidates this week. While the candidate predicts that will happen, his allies are pressuring the party to help Dunlap ramp up his campaign. For example, former primary opponent Jordan Wood insists that the party is “f—ing up another race in Maine.”
“We can win this race, and hopefully national Democrats will wake up,” he said in a video posted on X Wednesday.
The push from Wood and Dunlap’s supporters comes as divides between progressives and national Democrats over the future of the party play out in Maine and across the country. The fight over a district handily won by President Donald Trump in 2024 is projected by AdImpact to generate tens of millions of dollars in ad spending.
The November exit of centrist U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, who faced a Democratic primary challenge from Dunlap and routinely won significant shares of Republican votes, put the seat in position to be recaptured by Republicans. The state auditor has run a progressive campaign, holding a Bangor news conference on Thursday to mark the 61st anniversary of Medicaid.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the group controlled by party leaders, tried to ward him off from his challenge to Golden and endorsed Baldacci in the primary. Behind the scenes, Dunlap said his campaign is now speaking often with national Democrats who have been supportive and helped organize events.
“We’re not officially in the red-to-blue program yet, but it’s going to happen,” he said. “People have been frustrated by the delays but I think we are doing very well, we’re very competitive. I’m not at all concerned about that.”
He cited strong grassroots backing, giving a nod to the roughly 50 sign-holding supporters packed into Democrats’ local headquarters. The county party sent out a plea the day before to get people there.
House Majority PAC, the leadership-affiliated super PAC which said last month it looked forward to helping Dunlap defeat LePage, has $8 million reserved in ads for the race. Spokesman CJ Warnke said the group plans to spend even more, noting Thursday that no ads are on the air yet because the PAC doesn’t run them until the fall.
LePage’s campaign, which unlike Dunlap didn’t have to wage a primary, had almost $1.7 million in cash on hand at the end of June, compared to Dunlap’s nearly $229,000. But Dunlap’s campaign and the DCCC said he had a strong second quarter with almost $273,000 raised.
DCCC reiterated the support it expressed for Dunlap back in June, saying him not being in its program should not be perceived as giving up on the state.
“Matt Dunlap has spent his career standing up for working Mainers,” DCCC spokesperson Riya Vashi said Thursday. “We know voters are eager to hold Republicans accountable for making their lives more expensive, and Mainers know exactly what Paul LePage stands for — that’s why they’re ready to reject him and send Matt Dunlap to Congress instead.”
Dunlap and LePage sparred over health care on Thursday. Dunlap and supporters told reporters the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would cut Medicaid and Affordable Care Act subsidies for tens of thousands of Mainers, while citing LePage lauding the bill.
Brent Littlefield, a LePage advisor, highlighted moves from early in the former governor’s tenure to repay hundreds of millions of dollars in hospital debt. LePage has repeatedly expressed concerns that government-run programs won’t properly reimburse healthcare facilities, impacting hospital service, he said.
Supporters who gathered Thursday said they believe national Democrats will help Dunlap compete in a race where healthcare, the economy and the impacts of the Iran war are all front and center.
“They’ve got no choice,” Kurt Keef of Hermon said of the national party. “They’ll come on board eventually.”