LEWISTON (NEWS CENTER Maine) — Jared Golden's message to his supporters on Election Night: Mainers are hungry for change.
When Golden decided to run against Bruce Poliquin for Maine's second district congressional seat, he took on about as big a challenge as there is in Maine politics, and that is trying to defeat an incumbent who holds major political office in this state.
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In dozens of races over the last forty years, Maine voters have almost never tossed an incumbent out of office.
At Golden's campaign event in Lewiston on election night, he said that Mainers are excited about a change and new leadership.
"Every single place I've gone there have been people like you who are excited for new leadership right here in Maine and in the United States. People are hungry for someone who is going to fight for them and tonight I want to start by saying how proud I am to have earned your trust, your support, and your votes."
Golden also thanked his staff and volunteers for their hard work campaigning across the state.
"I have been everywhere. We've seen the sunrise in the east coast and set in the west coast. I've woken up here in Lewiston in one morning and gone to bed in Allagash in the same night and that's the kind of campaign we've run and I'm awfully proud of it. getting out and about getting back to the field, that's how we do it, right?"
The race between Golden and Poliquin would not be decided on Election Night. By the following morning, the candidates were in a virtual tie with 46% to 46%, and appeared to be headed towards a Ranked Choice runoff.