On Tuesday night, the left celebrated a series of predictable victories. New York City mayor, New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races, and California redistricting? Checkmarks, all three.
The left celebrated, reminding us on cable news and social media that they were so back and ready to sweep the 2026 midterms in a tsunami.
And then, after a series of predictable victories, there came the hangover Wednesday — the first sign that 2026 is hardly going to look as rosy as they think.
On Wednesday afternoon, Democratic Rep. Jared Golden — who has been one of the few stalwarts holding down a solidly pro-Trump, pro-Republican district in the House of Representatives — announced he wouldn’t be seeking re-election in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, Politico reported.
He was first elected in 2018.
Golden’s announcement comes not only after former Maine GOP Gov. Paul LePage looked to take the seat, but also as Golden, the only person who could viably beat LePage in a general election, faced a challenge in the primary.
“I have never loved politics,” Golden said in an Op-Ed published in the Bangor Daily News.
“But I find purpose and meaning in service, and the Marine in me has been able to slog along through the many aspects of politics I dislike by focusing on the good work that Congress is capable of producing with patience and determination.
“But after 11 years as a legislator, I have grown tired of the increasing incivility and plain nastiness that are now common from some elements of our American community — behavior that, too often, our political leaders exhibit themselves. My team and I have strived to stay above the fray and, for that, we can hold our heads high with appreciation for each other and the way we have gone about our work.”
Will the GOP keep Congress in 2026?
He added that the uptick in political violence added to his decision not to seek another term.
“These have made me reconsider the experiences of my own family, including all of us sitting in a hotel room on Thanksgiving last year after yet another threat against our home. There have been enough of those over the years to demand my attention,” he wrote.
These were only set to increase, it’s worth noting, with a primary challenger from the left: Matt Dunlap, the state’s auditor, jumped into the race last month, criticizing Golden’s bona fides as a Democrat.
“What I’ve heard from folks is they think we can do better. They’re unhappy with our current situation,” Dunlap said when announcing last month.
“You know, Jared Golden, people feel like he’s been bad for us. He has developed a consistency of voting with the Republican caucus on very important issues that affect real Mainers.”
The practical effect of it will be this: Take however many seats the Democrats picked up California’s banana republic redistricting proposition Tuesday night and subtract one from it, because that’s effectively what Golden leaving the race means for the party’s chances in the lower chamber.
Golden, while occasionally bipartisan, is still pretty reliably Democratic — and, notably, he’s a reliable Democrat in a district that goes for the Republicans generally and Trump specifically. The now-president won it by roughly 10 points in 2024, which is exactly what the polling numbers show Dunlap losing to LePage by if the progressive challenger is the nominee.
At this point, it looks like a fait accompli, although it’s worth noting that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had warned Dunlap against mounting a challenge.
Why? They knew he’d lose. They also knew that even if he lost a general election Golden would have won because Golden is 1) sane and 2) has better name recognition, he might also win the primary because the Democratic primary garners fringe voters these days. That’s doubly true when the Democratic senate primary front-runner, Graham “I Didn’t Know that Was a Nazi Tattoo” Platner, is a similarly insane progressive.
Remember, in 2025, the Democrats could rely on crunchy Californians and Zohran Mamdani’s army of trust-funders to propel left-wing candidates to victory. They had an easy slate, too — not a reliably red race in the lot, and everywhere Democrats won, Kamala Harris won in 2024, too.
However, to take either house of Congress next year requires the Jared Goldens of the United States to hold onto his seat. He’s outta there, whether it’s because he knows he’ll lose the primary or the party and its partisans have gotten too crazy for him. That’s bad news on two fronts, as it means the few moderate Democrats and liberal independents who might come out to support the hard-left Platner against GOP Sen. Susan Collins in the one seat the Democrats can hope to flip in the Senate might not come out if Golden isn’t on the ballot.
“I don’t fear losing. What has become apparent to me is that I now dread the prospect of winning,” Golden wrote in the piece.
When the people the Democrats need to hold onto power actually fear the act of winning an election, that’s a sign that whatever revelry Tuesday brought for the left could have a heck of a hangover going into an election year where normalcy is valued, the Republicans are more engaged, and the playing field isn’t slanted in the Democrats’ favor.
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