BANGOR, Maine — Maine's 2nd Congressional District race is already getting underway between Democratic incumbent Rep. Jared Golden and his official Republican challenger, state Rep. Austin Theriault, ahead of the general election this fall.
The two candidates are signaling a similar stance on trade policy, hoping tariffs and other more protectionist policy will revitalize the industries and economy of the second district.
Speaking to members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers on Saturday, Golden repeated calls for a ten percent tariff on foreign-made goods imported to the United States, in hopes of making American goods more competitive on price.
“The story, as it’s been told to me … is we used to be a productive power, and we sold all that away with globalization and free trade in return for access to sh**ty, cheap goods,” Golden said.
Theriault shared a similar stance on the day of the state primary election.
“I would look at making sure there are policies, whether its tariffs or other things, that make sure that we can bring jobs back here," he said.
Stances like these are in vogue among Democrats and Republicans on the national stage as well, with President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump serving as the most conspicuous examples.
This marks an about-face by both parties from how things used to be in decades past, where former President Ronald Reagan said free trade “serves the cause of economic progress” and former President Bill Clinton extolled its virtues while signing the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993, the subject of ridicule and fierce criticism by free-trade opponents since it went into effect in 1994.
Professor Mark Brewer, a political scientist at the University of Maine, explained the shift by Democrats and Republicans.
“If you were to go back 30 or 40 years, majorities, big majorities of both parties have become free traders," Brewer told NEWS CENTER Maine.
In Maine's 2nd district, the embrace by both Golden and Theriault for more protectionist trade policy could have to do with the electorate, which is largely rural and is no stranger to the loss of industry from a changing economic climate.
“Certainly, those Americans who live in rural areas, they were skeptical of free trade from the outset, and they’ve become increasingly convinced that it was terrible for them,” Brewer explained. “Some in both parties have come to the conclusion that free trade has been not a great deal for rural America.”
The result of these dynamics is a congressional race in the 2nd district with little diversity of opinion on the issue of trade.