AUGUSTA, Maine — The two Republicans competing for the chance to take on U.S. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine’s 2nd District in one of 2024’s top battleground races have different answers when asked about supporting former President Donald Trump.
One of the freshman state representatives running for the seat, Austin Theriault of Fort Kent is not explicitly endorsing Trump. The other, Mike Soboleski of Phillips, is. Their differences could take on added significance as the campaign ramps up and mirror past tension among Maine Republicans on how much they should embrace the divisive Trump.
Trump won the 2nd District in his two elections, though the Democratic candidates won Maine in both cases. Golden, a centrist Democrat who has represented the rural district since 2018, won slightly more votes than Trump when the two shared the ballot in 2020.
During a Monday interview, Fox News host Todd Piro asked Theriault, a former NASCAR driver who has the backing of national Republicans, which candidate he wants as the GOP’s presidential nominee in 2024.
“Well, we have a lot of good candidates,” Theriault replied. “You know, I think that any Republican candidate right now would be better than Biden, so I’m going to support the Republican nominee regardless of who it is.”
Soboleski, who won election to the State House in 2022 and is facing a fundraising disadvantage as Theriault enjoys national party support, has been a more vocal Trump supporter than most state lawmakers while representing one of the most conservative areas of the state in the Legislature.
Soboleski is “supporting President Trump in 2024, as he’s done in 2016 and 2020,” campaign spokesperson Joe Turcotte said Wednesday. He did not comment further on Theriault’s interview.
A Trump campaign spokesperson did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment on whether the former president plans on endorsing a candidate in the race.
While a faction of Republicans have opposed nominating Trump again as he faces numerous pending criminal cases and challenges to his eligibility, polling has shown the former president clearly atop the shrinking primary field. Trump has skipped each debate, including last week’s forum featuring Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
Theriault and Soboleski have otherwise each taken similar approaches in going after Golden and trying to tie him to Biden on issues such as the border and the economy. The GOP candidates also criticized Golden’s reversal in October on banning assault-style weapons after the Lewiston mass shooting.
Former U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, a Republican whom Golden unseated in 2018, avoided endorsing Trump in the election two years earlier. When he ran against Golden again in 2022, he hammered the Democrat along with Biden on conservative issues including border security and repeated Trump’s “America First” slogan. Golden won by locking down crossover support.
Soboleski and Theriault will have more chances to differentiate themselves next year. On Wednesday, Theriault announced that he wants three regional primary debates organized by the Maine Republican Party. The party agreed to host them, and Soboleski responded by saying he looks forward to multiple debates and “sharing my conservative vision” for the district.
