(The Center Square) — Democratic Rep. Jared Golden claims to have fended off a challenge on Tuesday from Republican NASCAR star Austin Theriault in Maine’s 2nd congressional district, but the GOP contender wasn’t ready to concede the race.
Golden was ahead with 50.3% of the vote to Theriault’s 49.3%, according to a tally by the Associated Press, when he held a press conference declaring himself the winner. The AP hadn’t yet called the race as of late Wednesday afternoon.
“Any viable path to a win for my opponent has closed, so I’m here to declare victory,” Golden said in remarks in his hometown of Lewiston. “No Democrat has withstood stronger headwinds from the top of the ticket, the pundits or the organized opposition. This race was hard fought and hard won.”
But Theriault wasn’t ready to concede the race Wednesday afternoon, arguing that the narrow margin between the two candidates was enough to trigger a recount.
“This race remains too close to call,” Theriault’s campaign said in a statement. “We’re well within the margin that would trigger a state-funded, automatic recount and every vote should be counted.”
Under Maine’s election laws, recounts are not automatic and need to be requested by the campaigns. It wasn’t clear Wednesday afternoon if Theriault’s campaign had requested a recount.
Golden, a Marine veteran, narrowly beat incumbent Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin in 2018. The race was ultimately decided by ranked-choice voting more than a week after the election. Golden has been reelected twice and is seeking a third two-year term.
On the campaign trail, he focused on his record of bipartisan cooperation in Congress, support for gun rights and a willingness to buck national Democrats on key public policy issues.
Theriault, a former NASCAR driver who former President Donald Trump has endorsed, campaigned heavily on Second Amendment rights in the largely rural congressional district that was rocked by the state’s worst mass shooting in October 2023, when a U.S. Army reservist fatally shot 18 people in a Lewiston bowling alley.
He also focused on the impact of high inflation on the economy and criticized Golden for his support for outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden’s economic policies.
The 2nd District, one of Maine’s two congressional seats, is considered competitive and was being watched Tuesday by political observers as Republicans seek to hold onto their narrow majority of the House of Representatives. Outside groups spent more than $25 million in an effort to sway voters ahead of Tuesday’s election.