Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden (ME-CD2) is courting Maine’s “No Labels” third-party as speculation builds over when he’ll announce what he plans to do in 2026 — and for which office he will run.
The 2026 election cycle in Maine will already include both an open gubernatorial seat and Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins vying for re-election, but the statewide political dynamic will be shaped in no small part by which race Rep. Golden chooses to enter and with which party he chooses to align himself.
Golden has yet to announce his plans publicly, but Maine political insiders have been speculating for months about whether he’ll defend his current seat from a likely challenge by former Republican Gov. Paul LePage or escape the sucking gravity of DC with a bid for the Blaine House.
Golden himself has fed speculation. He has talked openly about his disdain for the nation’s capital city and broken with the far left on issues that seem to have a stranglehold on Democrats in Maine.
On Friday, he did the unthinkable for a modern Democrat: he thanked President Donald Trump for an executive order.
All of these moves suggest Golden is pivoting toward the center, moderating some of his more liberal positions and strategically aligning with Trump, who won his district three times, on key issues, like tariffs. Similarly, Golden has backpedaled on his prior votes on LGBTQ+ issues with statements suggesting he does not support Maine’s current policy of forcing high school girls to compete against male athletes.
Golden’s dalliance with Maine’s largest third party only adds further intrigue to the mix.
A member of Maine’s “No Labels” party has told The Maine Wire that Golden participated twice this year in remote events with officials and members of the group, which bills itself as the moderate, third way in partisan politics.
Screenshots shared with The Maine Wire show Golden speaking to an audience of 200-300 people in Zoom town halls arranged by the third party on Feb. 11 and March 13, though the content of those calls was not shared.
What does it mean that Golden is lifting the hem of his blue jeans to show the less than 10,000-member No Labels party a little leg?
Perhaps Golden is looking to bring voters who are alienated by far-left Democrat Party politics back into the fold in advance of a primary fight against Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and former Senate President Troy Jackson. Or perhaps he’s looking to shore up his share of the moderate voter bloc as he takes the traditional route to defend CD2 as an incumbent.
But the more interesting route — and least expected one — could be that Golden plans to use the ballot access No Labels’ has by virtue of being a recognized party in Maine to land himself in a general election showdown with whomever the Democrats and Republicans select as nominees. That route would allow Golden to preserve his money and energy on a general election fight while the Rs and Ds tear each other to shreds in what are anticipated to be highly competitive primaries.
No Labels, a 15-year-old 501(c)4 organization, has never fielded a credible statewide candidate in Maine.
The party was only certified in Maine on Jan. 4, 2024 after submitting the necessary paperwork to trigger an enrollment review by Sec. Bellows. Despite Bellows’ attempts to quash No Labels’ momentum with cease-and-desist letters accusing the party of misleading voters into enrollment, she was ultimately forced to certify them for primary and general election ballot access last year.
But Maine has a special proclivity for candidates who are not affiliated with the traditional parties stretching back a half century.
Former Gov. Jim Longley was elected as Maine’s first statewide independent in 1975, and U.S. Sen. Angus King served as an unaffiliated governor from 1995 to 2003. Although these days King is essentially a far-left progressive who just happens to have an “I” rather than a “D” behind his name, his Senate victories show that Mainers are not averse to bucking the two-party tradition.
Eliot Cutler, the centimillionaire businessman and registered sex offender, may have spoiled the tradition by twice losing to Gov. LePage in 2010 and 2014 as an independent candidate (and then pleading guilty to possessing some 80,000 images and videos containing child sexual exploitation content), but there is a viable path for Golden.
Here’s another interesting clue about where Golden’s thinking may be: In his 2024 re-election race, Golden received a max contribution of $6,600 from a Texas billionaire named Harlan Crow.
Crow’s other financial contributions have gone almost entirely to Republicans — and, reportedly, No Labels.
If he wants to portray himself as more conservative then why hasn’t he attacked the democratic govenor and legislature of the peoples republic of Maine! Make no mistake, he IS a democrat!
Golden has pandered to Maine commercial fishermen in the past, looking like a fish out of water, no pun intended, obviously feeling he needs their support to win. So, maybe he thanked POTUS for his executive order regarding fisherman not because he actually believes in the executive order but rather out of desperation to win and bolster the future democRAT strongholds in Maine. Mr. Rank Choice Vote Golden can’t be trusted as far as I’m concerned. King was trusted by many when changing from (D) to (I), how has that worked out. What has Mr. RCV actually done for Maine’s commercial fishermen ??
Crickets !!!
No labels? we use to be called independent, still…. not voting for a democrat. They’re a toxic breed.
This is exactly the kind of shit that the Ranked Choice Voting crowd wants to happen .
Let’s have FIVE parties …SiX ….the chipmunk party ,…the chickadee party ….the lobster party ….crazy party …..the Cornell West party …..LOL,
Dilute the first vote and then let the shenanigans begin . Sheena Bellows will count ballots until the democrats win .
Don’t forget those “ overseas “ votes that are allowed weeks after and nobody sees .
Former Gov. Jim Longley was elected as Maine’s first statewide independent in 1975, and U.S. Sen. Angus King served as an unaffiliated governor from 1995 to 2003
Both were lifelong Democrats who became Independents because they knew that they’d never get the Democratic nomination.
Longley was with Democratic Governor Ken Curtis (1967 to 1975) and was a fiscally conservative insurance Lewiston insurance broker who headed Curtis’ “Maine Management and Cost Survey Commission.” He knew that he couldn’t defeat both George Mitchell and Joe Brennan (the latter becoming Governor after him, the former a US Senator).
Angus King was a “flatlander” from Virginia back when that was still an effective slur, and knew that Joe Brennan, who had run in 1990 and would be running again, would have the Dem nomination locked up. That’s the only reason why King went independent.
What no one is mentioning is that Golden’s move to “no labels” could be a way to keep his House seat in the era of Random Choice Voting — which is how he got elected in the first place. Let’s say the Democrats run a loonie leftie, as long as Golden is their second choice, this is how he defeats Paul LePage with a combination of moderate votes and loonie left votes.
I can more see him doing this in a run against Collins — if she runs. The Dems run a loonie leftist and Golden combines those votes and his own to win.
Remember too that most of the Lobstermen are in the First District — which is extended all the way up to Knox County so as to include North Haven Island where you-know-who lives.
RCV doesn’t apply to November governor election, can only be used in party primaries, but no doubt Bellowhards will do whatever she can to manipulate outcomes.
Another fake third-partyer (like Anus King)? *sigh* He better make his positions clear and stand against the Marxo-fascist devilcrats like he means it!
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No Party is a joke! They should call themselves what they really are – Democrats that even democrats wont vote for!
Golden knows he won’t win reelection, even with RCV, so he will do whatever the Democrats Elites tell him to do, like he always does!
Toady Mills and her Socialist Democrat cabal in Augusta have all but guaranteed Maine will swing right if center in 2026.
REAL Mainers, the taxpaying Mainers, have had enought of the Socialist’s crap destroying our state!
Nope, not voting for Angus 2.0
Instead of “No Labels” we need “No Democrats” to save this state from the malaise we are enduring.
Congressman Golden used to work on Senator Collins staff. My take is that he went for the easy money by cozying up to the Dems and labor organizers. I don’t see him as a modern day Democrat who is simply acting and reading from the script given to them while they are unjustly enriched for playing along. He would be the strongest candidate for Governor if he stays with the Democrats and would pull votes away from Bobby Charles if he runs as an Independent. Don’t be surprised if the Dems don’t skewer him if he does go Independent.
It’s not in his “JEANS’ (genes) it’s in has dungarees.
Don’t let Golden shower you with “No Labels”. About like leaking down my back and calling it rain.
It’s all theater, designed to push the notion that we have a democracy; but it’s only a democracy FOR THE VERY RICH. The votes get “counted” in secret–that’s what the computers ARE FOR–and Instant Runoff Voting only further obscures that fact. If you vote at all, you’re just lending legitimacy to the fraud.
Don’t let Golden pull that Angus K, I’m an independent BS! Golden is an opportunist and will say & do anything to get elected. He can not be trusted !
For the “No Labels” movement I have on question. Where do you stand on a babies right to life, 2nd amendment & Charter schools state wide for all children. Saving Maine/ The country is not about changing names; it’s about the defeat of the insane when/if people choose to do so but I don’t think that will happen unless God allows it.
Bottle of mustard, no matter what label you slap on it, it’s still mustard. Wake up Maine, voting for these democrats is not working!
No way is Golden in any way looking to run as a No Labels Candidate, that would alienate him from the Democratic money machine, and Golden is too shrewd to do that. He will court the No Labels favor at every turn, charm those that are easily influenced because Golden knows that elections in Maine turn on the outcome of a few thousand votes. All he has to do is make a few thousand voters “believe” he is with them to be successful. Golden is not weighed down with any hard and fast belief system, he is a hard believer in the practical. Look at his Democratic votes, when the party needed him, he always voted the party line, no matter how ridiculous the bill. But he took every opportunity to wrap himself in the cloak of “maverick” and vote against his party to appear “independent” when his vote meant absolutely nothing to the outcome. Golden is a political shape shifter, he will be whatever he needs to be to get elected. Golden understands that he needs to appear to move to the center as an election nears, but once elected, he votes to the left every time. Think back to Golden’s recent political ads: as you view them you will see him dressed in flannel, shooting guns, flashing his tats, touting his military service, his aw shucks family guy persona, but then look at his voting record, does that reflect centrist values? No, he voted in lock step with Pelosi. Expose him for the political opportunist that he is.
That just means he’s going to lie to the Maine people, just like Angus King has been doing for decades
The candidates the No Labels Party have run in other states—last year for secretary of state in Washington and for Congress in Alaska, and the current congressional candidate in a special election in southern Arizona—have all been socialists or admitted communists. They are proud of being as far left as possible!