Current Maine State Auditor Matt Dunlap, now running for the Second Congressional District House seat soon to be vacated by Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), disavowed claims that he was ever pro-life at Monday’s “Women for Dunlap” event.
[RELATED: Golden Announces He Won’t Seek Re-Election in 2026, Drops Out of Re-Election Bid…]
Dunlap emerged as the current Democratic frontrunner for the CD2 seat after Rep. Golden made his shocking announcement last month that he would not be seeking re-election in the hotly contested race.
Before dropping out, Golden branded Dunlap as a pro-life Democrat based on a vote he cast over 20 years ago during his stint as a state representative.
“A 30-year party crony like Matt Dunlap won’t cut it — the last time Matt held elected office he was a pro-life Democrat at a time when that unfortunately wasn’t unusual,” Golden said.
A reputation as a pro-life Democrat would likely render Dunlap anathema in the eyes of Maine’s radically pro-choice Democrats and hurt his chances with left-wing voters on election day. Dunlap took the opportunity on Monday to disavow the pro-life position, putting him back in line with Maine’s elected Democrats.
According to Dunlap, he cast a vote 22 years ago in favor of a bill that would have required women to wait 24 hours after seeking an abortion before they could actually obtain one.
“It was one vote 22 years ago that came out in some opposition research,” said Dunlap. “It’s a good lesson for folks that your votes are always part of the permanent record. I was not a pro-life member at all.”
He explained that he had a 100 percent pro-abortion voting record up until that vote and that he only voted for the pro-life legislation at the request of some of his constituents after seeing that it would fail regardless of his vote.
“Knowing my voting record, which was 100 percent pro-choice up to that point. It was going down 89-40 or something like that and I felt compelled to be respectful and I voted the way I did,” he said.
He vowed during the Women for Dunlap event that, as a U.S. congressman, he would always protect “reproductive freedom.”
“And I’ll always fight to protect reproductive freedom and ensure equal pay for equal work,” said the candidate.
Rep. Laura Supica, (D-Bangor) attended the event and praised Dunalp.
“He understands the struggles families are dealing with right now — the rising cost of groceries, the impossible cost of childcare, and the constant worry about whether you can afford the healthcare your family needs,” he said.
Following Golden’s departure from the race, Dunlap will face off against former Kennebec County Democratic Committee Secretary Louis Sigel and former Capitol Hill staffer Jordan Wood.
[RELATED: Next Level Phony Jordan Wood Drops Out of Senate Race to Run for 2nd District Congress Seat…]
In the wake of Golden’s announcement, Wood ended his seemingly doomed campaign for Sen. Susan Collins’ (R-Maine) seat and pivoted to a run for the House seat. More candidates may still join the race for the CD2 seat.
If Dunlap prevails in the Democratic primary, he will likely face off against Republican frontrunner former Gov. Paul LePage.
