AUGUSTA, Maine — Republicans generally agree that U.S. Rep. Jared Golden should be ousted in November, but the man with the grip on their party nationally is looming over the race between two primary contenders in Maine’s 2nd District.
Since former President Donald Trump rose to political prominence in 2016, Republicans here have resisted putting him at the center of their campaigns. The primary in the 2nd District is different. Freshman state Reps. Austin Theriault and Mike Soboleski are trying to quickly build up their low profiles while positioning themselves as loyal Trump supporters.
It shows how Trump has never been more powerful in setting an agenda for Republicans, even as he faces four pending criminal cases while awaiting a Supreme Court ruling on whether he is eligible to run in Maine and Colorado after those states found he violated the 14th Amendment’s ban on engaging in insurrection by inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Trump is an important symbol in the 2nd District, a conservative half of Maine, because he represents voters who are disillusioned by the political system, said Mary Adams, a longtime Republican activist from Garland who has not endorsed anyone in the congressional primary.
“He’s embraced by people who are desperate to turn the country around,” Adams said.
In the past, Trump has been treated with caution by Republicans running big campaigns in Democratic-leaning Maine. Former Gov. Paul LePage, who was one of the first governors to back Trump in 2016, stiff-armed him during his 2022 campaign with Gov. Janet Mills. Former Rep. Bruce Poliquin refused to say if he backed Trump when they shared the ballot in 2016.
Trump went on to win the conservative-leaning district twice, and he is a virtual lock to be the Republican nominee against President Joe Biden in November. He has made no endorsement, but neither 2nd District candidate is shy about their stance on the former president.
In December, Theriault, a 30-year-old former NASCAR driver from Fort Kent, told Fox News he would support the Republican nominee “regardless of who it is” without naming Trump. Theriault later said he will vote and previously voted for Trump. An initial radio ad from his campaign this month touts him three times as “a pro-Trump conservative.”
Soboleski, 67, of Phillips, touted his allegiance to Trump on the website for his 2022 legislative campaign. He has said he has been a “Trump guy since the ‘80s” and has noted that the Conservative Political Action Conference gave him a perfect rating in 2023.
Theriault is the likely early favorite with national Republican endorsements and a sizable primary fundraising advantage. But Soboleski has won several informal straw polls at county Republican meetings. The two recently got into a well-publicized dispute about Soboleski’s tax and business history — including running an Augusta bar in the 1990s that had tax trouble and hosted exotic dancers — as well as elements of their House voting records.
Soboleski’s campaign adviser, Rep. John Andrews, R-Paris, argued Theriault’s initially noncommittal Fox News interview answer on Trump before his latest radio ad shows Theriault was trying to curry favor with the former president in “a calculated political move.”
“Mike is as genuine and authentic as a Mainer can get,” Andrews said. “He doesn’t need or want powerful D.C. politicians to spend large amounts of money to manufacture his political persona for the race.”
Theriault “is the only candidate putting his money where his mouth is” by not only voting for Trump in both prior elections as well and this year’s primary but also running radio ads in support of Trump’s border wall, Shawn Roderick, his campaign manager, said in a statement that also noted that Theriault went to a Trump rally in 2016.
Biden and Golden have been the candidates’ chief targets so far. Both Republicans have tried to hammer Golden on Trump’s key issue of border security and seized on his October reversal to back an assault-style weapons ban after the mass shooting in his hometown of Lewiston.
Golden has been a durable politician to date. Trump has twice won the 2nd District, but the congressman narrowly outpolled him there in 2020. The congressman has held his seat since 2018 and voted against Biden more than any other House Democrat in 2023. Still, Biden figures to be deeply unpopular in the 2nd District, lagging the former president in recent national polls.
Theriault and Soboleski could differentiate themselves further in April, when the Oxford County Republican Committee is scheduled to host an initial primary debate. For now, it is mostly political types who are making distinctions between the two newcomers.
Theriault “appeals more to the base” and has better odds of winning a general election, said Sen. Matt Pouliot, R-Augusta, who endorsed Theriault. Rep. Wayne Parry, R-Arundel, highlighted his younger age and northern Maine ties, and Sen. Jim Libby, R-Standish, called Theriault one of the party’s “hottest commodities.”
“If Theriault lost the primary, that would probably help Golden,” added Kyle Kondik, an elections analyst with Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
Several Soboleski supporters said they have nothing against Theriault, but Rep. Gary Drinkwater, R-Milford, said he endorsed Soboleski because he has been “an impact player from the get-go” in the Legislature. Andover Selectman Justin Thacker said his preferred candidate is “connected to conservatism and a large proponent” of Trump.
But so is Theriault, said Karen Deprey, a Fort Kent resident who volunteers with Republican causes in Aroostook County.
“Trump is our guy. Austin’s a strong conservative,” she said. “There’s zero doubt in my mind he is the best person to get Golden out of office.”
