Maine's 2nd congressional district is a

congressional district Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional body. Countries with congressional districts includ ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. Covering , it comprises nearly 92% of the state's total land area. The district comprises most of the land area north of the

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

and Augusta metropolitan areas. It includes the cities of Lewiston, Bangor, Auburn, and Presque Isle. The district is represented by Democrat

Jared Golden Jared Forrest Golden (born July 25, 1982) is an American politician and United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps veteran serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Maine's 2nd congressional district since 2018 ...

, who took office in 2019. It is the largest district by area east of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

, and the 24th largest overall. It is the second-most rural district in the United States, with 72% of its population in rural areas, and it has the second highest proportion of

non-Hispanic White Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as White Anglo Americans or Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans who are classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the Unit ...

residents (90.9%); only Kentucky's 5th congressional district exceeds it in the two categories. It voted for Republican

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

and notably voted for Democratic Representative Jared Golden in both the

and

elections. It was one of six congressional districts in 2020 and 13 districts in 2024 that voted for

for president while simultaneously electing a Democrat to the House of Representatives.

History

Until the

Missouri Compromise The Missouri Compromise (also known as the Compromise of 1820) was federal legislation of the United States that balanced the desires of northern states to prevent the expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand ...

was reached in 1820, Maine was a part of

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

as the

District of Maine The District of Maine was the governmental designation for what is now the U.S. state of Maine from October 25, 1780, to March 15, 1820, when it was Admission to the Union, admitted to the Union as the List of U.S. states by date of admission to ...

. When it became a state in 1820, Maine had seven congressional districts credited to it (Massachusetts including Maine had been given 20 districts after the 1810 census). Since Maine became a state, all but two districts have been reallocated to other states. In 2018, the district became the first in the United States to elect the ranked choice winner over the

first-past-the-post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

winner, after a referendum in 2016 changed Maine's electoral system from the latter system to the former. Incumbent representative

Bruce Poliquin Bruce Lee Poliquin (; born November 1, 1953) is an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Maine's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. Poliquin ...

won a plurality of the first preference votes. However, the second and third preferences from two independent candidates flowed overwhelmingly to

, allowing him to win with 50.6% of the vote once all preferences were distributed. Historically, the district has tended to keep its incumbents regardless of party. When Golden defeated two-term Republican incumbent Bruce Poliquin in 2018, it was the first time an incumbent had lost reelection in the district since 1916. Since 1965, the district's representatives have frequently sought statewide office. Three U.S. senators (Democrat

William Hathaway William Dodd Hathaway (February 21, 1924June 24, 2013) was an American politician and lawyer from Maine. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States senator for Maine from 1973 to 1979, as the U.S. representative for Maine's ...

and Republicans

William Cohen William Sebastian Cohen (born August 28, 1940) is an American lawyer, author, and politician from the U.S. state of Maine. A Republican, Cohen served as both a member of the United States House of Representatives (1973–1979) and Senate (1979� ...

and

Olympia Snowe Olympia Jean Snowe (; born February 21, 1947) is an American businesswoman and politician who was a United States Senate, United States Senator, representing Maine for three terms from 1995 to 2013. A lifelong member of the Republican Party (Unit ...

), one governor (Democrat

John Baldacci John Elias Baldacci (born January 30, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 73rd governor of Maine from 2003 to 2011. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, he also served in the United States House of Representatives from 199 ...

), and one nominee for governor (Democrat

Mike Michaud Michael Herman Michaud ( ; born January 18, 1955) is an American businessman and politician from Maine. Michaud served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 2003 to 2015. He is a member of the United States ...

) all previously held the seat. Due to its size, the district's congressman is usually reckoned as a statewide figure; its footprint includes portions of all three television markets anchored in the state. The boundaries of the district are open for reconsideration in light of population shifts revealed by the decennial US census. Until 2011, Maine's constitution provided for the state to reapportion the congressional districts based on census data every ten years beginning in 1983, meaning that Maine redrew their districts after most states, who typically redraw them in time for the congressional election taking place immediately after the release of census data. However, a federal lawsuit filed in March 2011 led to a requirement that Maine speed up its redistricting process. As such, Maine's congressional map was redrawn in time for both the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

congressional elections.

Composition

For the 118th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the 2020 census), the district contains all or portions of the following counties and municipalities:https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/cong_dist/cd118/cd_based/ST23/CD118_ME02.pdf
/ref> ; Androscoggin County (14) : All 14 municipalities ; Aroostook County (64) : All 64 municipalities ; Franklin County (21) : All 21 municipalities ; Hancock County (37) : All 37 municipalities ; Kennebec County (18) : Augusta,

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, Chelsea, Farmingdale, Fayette,

Gardiner Gardiner may refer to: Places Settlements ;Canada * Gardiner, Ontario ;United States * Gardiner, Maine * Gardiner, Montana * Gardiner (town), New York ** Gardiner (CDP), New York * Gardiner, Oregon * Gardiner, Washington * West Gardiner, ...

, Hallowell,

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Monmouth Monmouth ( or ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated on where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8 ...

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. An American landmar ...

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

, Randolph, Readfield,

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Sidney,

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Wayne, Winthrop ; Oxford County (36) : All 36 municipalities ; Penobscot County (59) : All 59 municipalities ; Piscataquis County (18) : All 18 municipalities ; Somerset County (33) : All 33 municipalities ; Waldo County (26) : All 26 municipalities ; Washington County (44) : All 44 municipalities

Recent election results from statewide races

In US presidential elections, most

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

give all the state's

electoral votes An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliamenta ...

to the candidate that wins the statewide popular vote. This is a type of

winner-takes-all voting A winner-take-all (or winner-takes-all) electoral system is one where a voting bloc can win all seats in a legislature or electoral district, denying representation to any political minorities. Such systems are used in many major democracies. Suc ...

. Maine and Nebraska instead use the

congressional district method In the United States, the Electoral College is the group of presidential electors that is formed every four years for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president in the presidential election. This process is described in ...

, where the winner in each of the state's congressional districts gets one electoral vote, and the statewide winner gets an additional two electoral votes. Since Maine introduced this system in 1969, Maine's second district voted the same way as the entire state of Maine for every election until 2016. Republican

won the district in 2016, 2020, and 2024.

List of members representing the district

Election history

1978

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

2024

References

External links

* *
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–presentFormer Congressman Bruce Poliquin's web site
{{Maine 02 North Maine Woods Androscoggin County, Maine Aroostook County, Maine Franklin County, Maine Hancock County, Maine Kennebec County, Maine Oxford County, Maine Penobscot County, Maine Piscataquis County, Maine Somerset County, Maine Waldo County, Maine Washington County, Maine Constituencies established in 1821 Constituencies disestablished in 1883 Constituencies established in 1885 1821 establishments in Maine 1883 disestablishments in Maine 1885 establishments in Maine