{"id":578,"date":"2026-06-19T11:10:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T11:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=578"},"modified":"2026-06-19T11:10:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T11:10:23","slug":"matt-dunlap-wins-maines-democratic-primary-in-a-key-congressional-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=578","title":{"rendered":"Matt Dunlap Wins Maine\u2019s Democratic Primary in a Key Congressional District"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Maine state auditor Matt Dunlap is projected to win the Democratic primary in the race to replace outgoing Rep. Jared Golden in Maine\u2019s 2nd Congressional District.<\/p>\n

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The Associated Press called the race early Friday morning, 10 days after the June 9 primary.<\/p>\n

Dunlap, a progressive candidate who was the Maine co-chair for Sen. Bernie Sanders\u2019 2016 presidential campaign, will face Paul LePage, the state\u2019s former Republican governor, in the general election in November. It\u2019s one of the most closely watched races for both parties looking to win the House majority.<\/p>\n

The district is one Republicans have long eyed as a possible pickup seat, and Democrats expect a major fight as they try to hold on to it. The Cook Political Report has classified<\/u><\/span> it as a \u201clikely\u201d Republican district.<\/p>\n

Golden won his last election by less than a percentage point in 2024, and the district has voted for Trump each time he has run.<\/p>\n

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee included the district in its 2026 Red to Blue<\/u><\/span> program, which is aimed at investing in competitive districts, though it backed state Sen. Joe Baldacci in the primary. The endorsement drew criticism from other candidates in the race<\/u><\/span>, who argued the DCCC was putting its thumb on the scale.<\/p>\n

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Dunlap beat out Baldacci, former congressional aide Jordan Wood, and social worker Paige Loud for the nomination.<\/p>\n

The race for this seat was tight, with not a single contender winning more than 50% of the vote in the first round of counting. Because no one cleared the majority, additional rounds of tabulation were triggered, eliminating Loud and Wood and distributing second- and third-choice votes to the remaining candidates. This put Dunlap over the top and secured him the win against Baldacci.<\/p>\n

Jim Melcher, a professor of political science at the University of Maine at Farmington, said on primary day that a win by Dunlap \u201cwould definitely be a sign of the progressive wing being in ascendancy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMatt Dunlap has been around Maine politics, he\u2019s in a way an establishment figure, but he also was co-chair of Bernie Sanders\u2019 campaign,\u201d Melcher said. \u201cSomebody other than Baldacci winning would be a rejection of what Washington\u2019s been trying to push in this race.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dunlap was endorsed by progressives such as California Rep. Ro Khanna<\/u><\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dunlap beat out state Sen. Joe Baldacci, former congressional aide Jordan Wood, and social worker Paige Loud.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2026-election"],"yoast_head":"\nMatt Dunlap Wins Maine\u2019s Democratic Primary in a Key Congressional District - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=578\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Matt Dunlap Wins Maine\u2019s Democratic Primary in a Key Congressional District - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dunlap beat out state Sen. 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