Former Gov. Paul LePage secured the GOP nomination for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District on Tuesday after running unopposed for one of the GOP’s major pickup opportunities.
LePage is running to flip the seat, which is currently held by retiring Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME). President Donald Trump won the district 53.5% in 2024 compared to former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 44.5%.
House Republicans are bullish that LePage can flip the seat. Even though the district votes Republican at the federal level, the GOP has been unable to oust Golden since he first won in 2018.
LePage served as Maine’s governor from 2011 to 2019, after which he left office because of term limits. He sought to reclaim the seat in 2022, but lost to Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME). Despite losing by 12 percentage points to Mills, LePage narrowly carried the second district by 2 percentage points in the contest.
Trump endorsed LePage for his congressional bid last year, and re-upped his endorsement this week. Nearly every general election poll has shown LePage up.
GOLDEN RULES OUT REPLACING PLATNER ON BALLOT AMID SCANDALS
“Paul will most likely be running against a Radical Left Democrat named Matt Dunlap, who loves High Taxes, High Interest Rates, Expensive and Unreliable Electricity, Open Borders, and Transgender for Everybody, among other CRAZY ideas, but the good news is that Paul LePage is a WINNER, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
Maine will be one of the most-watched states in the 2026 election, as the second congressional district remains in play for a Republican pickup. The Senate race, which Democrats have seen as a pickup to unseat Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), has been plagued by scandal with the presumptuous Democratic nominee Graham Platner.