“My vote today reflects my commitment to making tough choices and doing my job for the people of Maine,” wrote Maine District 2 Rep. Jared Golden (D) after casting the lone Democratic vote in favor of the Republican House budget bill this week. The budget calls for $485 million additional funding for ICE to feed Trump’s deportation machine—which Golden highlighted affirmatively—and another $6 billion in Pentagon spending. Meanwhile, the bill erases earmarks—making it easier for Trump and Musk to turn appropriations into slush funds—and cuts $13 billion from non-military spending in health, clean water, tribal assistance, FEMA, and more. Pulling a reverse Susan Collins, Golden voted in favor of Trump’s budget, knowing his vote would not be decisive. Trump wasn’t thinking about Golden when he demanded “NO DISSENT” from House Republicans, but Golden answered the call regardless. If it were not for the Speaker Mike Johnson’s razor thin majority, one could be tempted to dismiss Golden’s posturing. And Golden’s vote, which seemed like an anomaly just a couple days ago, has now been endorsed by the most powerful elected Democrat in the country, Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
I have no special insight into Golden as a person. He’s obviously a very smart, likeable, hardworking man, and has about as much Mainer cred as a person can muster. Moreover, he can be surprisingly progressive on important issues. For instance, while Gov. Janet Mills—generally considered several steps to his left—has vetoed bills expanding Wabanaki sovereignty, Golden has supported important tribal priorities. Golden also vocally supports abortion rights and took a lot of heat for changing his position on banning assault rifles after the mass shooting in Lewiston. Credit where credit is due.
On the other hand, Golden famously split his vote during Trump’s impeachment, claiming he “voted his heart.” The pattern continued when he declared he was “OK” with Trump winning in 2024, even as he ridiculed people worried about Trump’s threats to democracy as “pearl clutching.” While condemning Republican State Rep. Laura Libby’s doxxing of a trans athlete, Golden repeated the right-wing trope that “biological males shouldn’t compete in sports against biological girls.” And when small farmers in Maine faced devastating cuts to USDA support, all Golden could muster was that he was “awaiting more legal clarity.”
[Read next: We’ll need popular resistance to defend trans rights in Maine – Pine & Roses]
Golden clearly wants Mainers to believe that he stands virtually alone in willing to make “tough choices.” Whatever you think of Golden the man, his method of trying to bridge left and right is the problem. After all, Golden won reelection by a whisker. His shrinking majority in District 2 and growing appetite for Manchinite posturing in Washington have led to speculation that he is considering a run for the Blaine House in November of 2026. Although it’s tempting to dismiss his chances in a left-leaning Democratic primary, Democratic leaders—and fundraising behemoths—demonstrated their willingness to pull out all the stops to prevent Bernie taking up the banner in 2016 and 2020. Furthermore, Trump has apparently picked Libby to conquer the state for MAGA in 2026 so the potential for the governor’s race to become “national” is real enough. Is Golden hoping he can serve as a rallying point for centrist and Blue Dog Democrats in the party apparatus? Perhaps. And that’s the problem with Golden’s method. Even if he wins, we lose.
So far I’ve stressed the uniqueness of Golden’s political positioning, but he also shares at least one trait in common with Gov. Mills, Sen. Angus King, and the bulk of the most powerful party leaders. That is, for all the latter’s references to Trump as a threat to democracy, they’re still willing to play by the rules. Mills rightfully won accolades for telling Trump she’d “see him in court.” Yet leaving our rights up to the Roberts Court leaves an awful lot up to chance.
What’s the alternative? When Mills threatened to strip cost of living raises, direct care workers struck and took their message to the legislature, securing a vote in committee to restore the raise. When University of Maine administrators refused to protect international students, unionized graduate students organized a sit in. When Bowdoin administrators refused to honor a student referendum calling for the college to take action to support the people of Gaza, Students for Justice in Palestine organized an encampment. Actions like these are not yet powerful enough on their own to turn the tide, but they do point in another direction.
[Listen to next: Bowdoin College encampment for Gaza.]
Trump will continue his blitzkrieg for the coming months at least. He’s no pushover and we best prepare for a long series of confrontations. There’s no shame in recognizing we are on the defensive for the time being. But the initiatives we take now, be they organizing for May Day in Maine, standing up for our trans siblings, fighting for social housing, defending local farms or nominating candidates who’ve demonstrated they will fight for us in office, will be all the stronger if we take the time to cement relationships, practice open organizing democracy, and welcome new people into our movements.
So what is Jared Golden thinking? It turns out it’s the same thing as Schumer. In their estimation, sacrificing trans people, immigrants, civil liberties, and federal workers unions are just the cost of doing a certain kind of business in American politics. We need something entirely different.
[Read next: The future of housing is public.]
