State Rep. Austin Theriault conceded the election in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District to Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME).
The race was one of the closest in the country and the closest in Maine’s history. The Associated Press called the race for Golden at 8.50 p.m. Nov. 15, 10 days after the election. Golden received 49.9% to Theriault’s 49.8% of the vote with 99% of votes counted. Theriault quickly called for a recount, which concluded Wednesday, one day shy of one month since the election.
In a statement, Theriault congratulated Golden and thanked his own supporters.
“It has been the honor of my life to run to represent Mainers in Washington,” Theriault said. “This was an extremely close and hard-fought race and I’m humbled by the tremendous reception we received from all corners of the district.
“I ran this campaign centered around putting People Over Politics, and it’s time to do that now,” he continued. “I want to congratulate Jared Golden and wish him the best of luck representing our beautiful home. I look forward to working with him, the rest of the delegation, and the Maine people to continue to fight for our state.”
Golden is one of the few Democrats who won a district that President-elect Donald Trump carried in 2020, casting himself as a centrist. He pulled this feat off again in 2024, though much more narrowly than last time. He never said whether he voted for Vice President Kamala Harris, something Theriault repeatedly harped on.
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The Maine congressman was one of the first congressional Democrats to come out against President Joe Biden during his postdebate crisis in July. He went further than most Democrats in prophetically saying Trump would probably win the election and that he was OK with that.
Maine is one of two states to allocate electoral votes based on congressional districts. Maine’s 2nd Congressional District voted for Trump in 2016, 2020 and 2024.
