BANGOR, Maine — The most recent campaign finance filing in Maine's 2nd Congressional District race shows both candidates are now backed by powerful special interest groups, though to varying degrees.
In the campaign to date, three-term incumbent Democratic Rep. Jared Golden has secured about $4.8 million. GOP challenger and State Rep. Austin Theriault has raised shy of $1.8 million.
Most of the campaign war chests come from individual donors, but political action groups—known as PACS – are pouring money into each candidate as well. The most recent data shows nearly $545,000 in PAC money for Golden and about $230,000 for Theriault.
Though Golden has pledged to not take money from Corporate PACS, filings show money from large business interests making their way in through different means.
Most notable, and maybe most peculiar, is the support Golden is receiving from the sugar industry. Five PACs supporting large sugar producers have gave more than $23,000 in the last filing period. Golden also pocketed funds from interests in the cotton and oil and gas industries.
This has drawn fierce criticism from Theriault, who has accused Golden of taking money from corporate PACs.
“He ran consistently saying that he didn’t take PAC money, corporate PAC money,” Theriault said Monday. “But that’s not the case right now.”
Though these groups donating to Golden are largely influenced by corporate interests—many of the sugar companies have executives and other C-suite positions on their donation lists—they are not corporate PACs by the definition of the Federal Election Commission. Those groups are directly funded by singular companies and are set up to advance their specific interests, instead of the interests of an industry.
Even so, to Theriault, the difference is negligible.
“However you want to fry it, if you take groups who take corporate PAC money, that’s the same thing," he said.
For the Golden campaign, however, the distinction between special interest groups and corporate PACs is critical.
“Jared Golden signed a pledge to not accept money from Corporate PACs and he has upheld that pledge,” Mario Moretto, a campaign spokesperson, said in a statement. “His opponent would love to muddy the waters here, but the facts are the facts, and easily verifiable. We call on Austin Theriault to join Congressman Golden in signing the No Corporate PAC Pledge, if his GOP establishment handlers will let him.”
According to the FEC filings, Theriault received $5,000 from Koch Industries, a powerful oil and gas group, as well as $2,500 from Motorsports Acceptance Corporation PAC, NASCAR’s PAC (Theriault is a former NASCAR driver).
When asked about these donations in contrast to his accusations of corporate patronage against Golden, Theriault insisted it isn't corporate PACs he is against, rather what he sees as his opponent changing course on the issue..
“The difference between Jared and I is I haven’t flip-flopped on the issue,” Theriault said. “Its about being consistent.”
A representative with End Citizen’s United, the group Golden signed his pledge against corporate PACS said Monday night that Golden has kept his pledge.