Democratic Maine Sen. Joe Baldacci eyes competitive US House seat in Washington
Democratic Maine Sen. Joe Baldacci eyes competitive US House seat in Washington ===
The state senator sat for his first interview as a House candidate with NEWS CENTER Maine.
Sen. Baldacci launched his campaign on Monday.
Author: Phil Hirschkorn
Published: 6:52 PM EST January 14, 2026
Updated: 6:52 PM EST January 14, 2026
BANGOR, Maine — Maine Democratic State Sen. Joe Baldacci, 60, from Bangor is looking to fill the U.S. House of Representatives seat for Maine's Second Congressional District, after current Rep. Jared Golden announced he is vacating after eight years.
Taking place in one of the nation’s most competitive battleground districts—a Democratic seat carried by President Donald Trump in the last three elections—the race could help determine control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2027. Republicans currently hold a very slight majority.
"We need to win for the people of Maine,” Baldacci told supporters as he launched his campaign Monday. “Folks in northern Maine are facing problems that people in D.C. don’t even know about, but let me tell you, when I’m elected, not only are the elites in D.C. going to know about your problems loud and clear, we’re going to work to fix them.”
On Wednesday, Baldacci sat down with NEWS CENTER Maine for his first interview as a House candidate.
He recalled how he is the grandson of immigrants and the youngest of eight children. Seven of those children graduated from the University of Maine, and Baldacci went on to law school at UMaine.
“My family had a restaurant for 75 years in Bangor,” Baldacci said. “I worked there for 10 years.”
Before joining the Maine State Senate in 2020, Baldacci served 12 years on the Bangor City Council.
Fighting the high cost of living and restoring federal spending cuts to rural hospitals and the Veterans Administration are among Baldacci's top priorities.
"Twenty-six percent of the Second District is 65 or older," he said. "These people are living on the margins. Social Security and Medicare are key."
Baldacci contends he's more battle-tested than the other Democratic candidates in CD2: state auditor Matt Dunlap, 60, and former congressional staffer Jordan Wood, 36.
"I'm the only candidate in either party who has actually won an election in the last 10 years," Baldacci said.
RELATED: State Sen. Joe Baldacci enters race for Maine's 2nd Congressional District
“When I got into this race, it was never for a job or a title," Baldacci said. "It was because working-class Mainers in this district needed a real fighter—someone who’s been in this for them from the very beginning. I’m running to deliver a people’s agenda: Medicare for all, universal childcare, and living wages for working families. Nothing has changed, and nothing will.”
“Primaries are an important part of our democratic process," Wood told NEWS CENTER Maine, welcoming Baldacci to the race. "They give Mainers the power to decide who best represents our values and priorities and can win this critical election in November.”
The expected Republican candidate in CD2, former Gov. Paul LePage, was last elected in 2014. Baldacci called him a "puppet" of U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson.
“He's basically just parroting the entire House Republican lines, which include the House Republican budget that they put out," Baldacci said. "The people that are supporting LePage put out a House Republican budget last year, and you can read it, to raise the retirement age for Social Security to 69, which I think is very dangerous, and to reduce the annual cost of living increases for people.”
Brent Littlefield, an advisor to LePage Campaign, responded to Baldacci.
“He has very little to offer the voters of Maine, so the first thing he does is attack Governor LePage," he said. "Paul LePage paid a hospital debt to protect healthcare and is focusing on being a stronger Maine voice for lower electricity prices and job growth.”
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Baldacci is also running on his legislative record, such as supporting more state revenue sharing with municipalities, funding nursing homes, and protecting reproductive rights.
He voted for laws passed by the legislature and signed by Gov. Janet Mills that bar state law enforcement employees from participating with out-of-state criminal investigations of abortion providers and that allow later-in-pregnancy abortions, after fetal viability at 24 weeks, if a doctor deems it medically necessary.
“I've been pro-choice my entire life,” Baldacci said. “Because I have a strong belief in the Constitution of the United States and the individual right to privacy. The original abortion decisions, Roe versus Wade, are based on a line of cases involving protecting personal privacy, not just of women, but of couples, of single people, in terms of a whole range of contraceptive, reproductive, personal family issues. I don't think the government can be in your bedroom."
If elected, Baldacci said he would aim for a seat on the House Agriculture Committee because “this is one of the most rural districts in the country, where farming, fishing, logging is part of the critical economy of our area.”
He has vowed on his first day in office to propose limits on out-of-state investors buying up homes.
“I would try to reduce the economic incentives that exist both in our tax laws and our regulatory laws that give these multinational corporations incentives to come in and buy up real estate," Baldacci said. "I think Maine people should have the first dibs.”
While the CD2 race could help determine the balance of power in Washington, Baldacci said what’s more important to him is translating constituents’ concerns into action.
"I think people want a more positive message," Baldacci said. "They want leadership that can provide positive answers, and that's what I intend to do."
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Source: News Center Maine
Locations: Bangor
Region: Central