Rep. Jared Golden, moderate Democrat from Maine, won’t seek reelection in key midterm race

Washington — Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine will not run for reelection next year, he announced Wednesday, a move that could complicate Democrats’ efforts to win a House majority.

Golden’s district — which covers northern Maine — is expected to be one of the most closely contested House seats in next year’s midterm elections. Last year, it was one of just 13 Democratic districts where a Democrat won the House race but President Trump won at the top of the ticket. It’s one of 26 seats that the House GOP’s campaign arm plans on targeting next year as Republicans aim to hold onto their narrow majority in the lower chamber.

Golden is known for occasionally breaking with his party. He was the only House Democrat to vote in favor of a GOP-backed measure to avert a government shutdown in September.

In an op-ed in the Bangor Daily News, Golden said his decision was driven in part by the “unnecessary, harmful” government shutdown. He also said he has “grown tired of the increasing incivility and plain nastiness that are now common from some elements of our American community,” and “recent incidents of political violence have made me reassess the frequent threats against me and my family.”

“I don’t fear losing. What has become apparent to me is that I now dread the prospect of winning. Simply put, what I could accomplish in this increasingly unproductive Congress pales in comparison to what I could do in that time as a husband, a father and a son,” he wrote.”

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.