Jared Forrest Golden (born July 25, 1982) is an American politician and Marine Corps veteran serving as the U.S. representative for Maine's 2nd congressional district since 2019. A Democrat, he represents a district encompassing the northern four-fifths of the state, including the cities of Lewiston, Bangor, and Auburn, along with the state capital of Augusta. It is the largest district east of the Mississippi River. His district was carried by Donald Trump in both the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections, making it a politically competitive area. Golden concurrently won his district both times.
Golden was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as a United States Marine. He was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for his performance during Operation Steel Curtain in the Iraq War.
Golden, along with Angus King and Chellie Pingree, were the first members of Congress to be elected by ranked-choice voting. He is the only representative to win after initially placing second in the first round of tabulation.
A self-described progressive conservative, Golden previously served as a co-chair of the Blue Dog Coalition. On November 5, 2025, Golden announced he would not seek re-election in 2026.
Early life and education Jared Forrest Golden was born on July 25, 1982, in Lewiston, Maine to Joseph Forrest "Joe" Golden and his wife Jeannine (nee Hamel), and was raised in the nearby town of Leeds. He attended Leavitt Area High School in the town of Turner, Maine, competed on the school's baseball, soccer, football, and basketball teams, and graduated in 2001. He then attended the University of Maine at Farmington, intending to become a history teacher.
Military career
Following the September 11 attacks on the United States, however, Golden left college and enlisted in the U.S, Marines. He was assigned to Kilo Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 6th Marines, an infantry unit based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
In the spring of 2004, Golden deployed to the Kunar Province of eastern Afghanistan along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border in the Hindu Kush mountain range. Stationed at a remote mountaintop outpost, his small team provided security and overwatch for a detachment of Green Berets engaged in counter-terrorism operations. During this tour, his unit survived the detonation of a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) on their truck on the day of Afghanistan's first presidential election.
He deployed for a second combat tour from late 2005 to early 2006, serving in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq. During this tour, he participated in Operation Steel Curtain in 2005, a major joint offensive targeting foreign fighters and insurgent networks along the Euphrates River near the Syrian border. Golden rose to the rank of corporal, and was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for his performance during the operation. He completed his active duty enlistment and was honorably discharged in December 2006. He later served a brief stint in the United States Marine Corps Reserve from May 2008 to April 2009.
Return to Maine, and further education Upon returning to Maine, Golden earned a degree in history and politics from Bates College in Lewiston. While he was completing his degree at Bates, he returned to Afghanistan during his summer semester to work as a volunteer school teacher.
Early career Following his college graduation, he worked as an international representative for Paxton International, an international logistics firm, from January to August 2011. In his position with the firm, he deployed back to the Middle East to manage logistics operations on-site in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In September 2011, he joined the staff of Maine Republican senator Susan Collins, working as a professional staff member for the Republican minority on the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs until January 2013. He subsequently transitioned directly into Senator Collins's personal office, serving as a legislative assistant from January 2013 to August 2013, before returning to Maine to work for the state legislature.
Maine House of Representatives In 2013, Golden returned to Maine. He worked as a legislative aide for the House Democratic Office in the Maine Legislature.
In 2014, as a Democrat he campaigned for a seat in the Maine House of Representatives and won the election to represent House District 60, which encompassed a significant portion of his resident city of Lewiston.
Golden was reelected to the Maine House of Representatives in 2016. In the subsequent legislative session, he was selected to be the Assistant House Majority Leader. Golden also chaired the Elections Committee and the Joint Select Committee on Joint Rules.
U.S. House of Representatives Elections
2018
On August 24, 2017, Golden announced his candidacy to challenge incumbent Republican Representative Bruce Poliquin to serve in the United States House of Representatives for . On June 20, 2018, he was declared the winner of the Democratic primary, defeating environmentalist Lucas St. Clair and bookstore owner Craig Olson.
On election night, Golden initially trailed Poliquin by 2,000 votes. Because no candidate won a majority of first-place votes, Maine's newly implemented ranked-choice voting system called for the votes initially for independents Tiffany Bond and William Hoar to be redistributed to Poliquin or Golden in accordance with their voters' second choice. The independents' supporters ranked Golden as their second choice by an overwhelming margin, allowing him to defeat Poliquin by a margin of 3,000 votes after the final tabulation. He was the first challenger to unseat an incumbent in the district since 1916.
Poliquin then contested the legitimacy of the use of ranked-choice voting in the election, and claimed that he was the rightful winner because of his first-round plurality lead. He filed a lawsuit in federal court asking the court to declare ranked-choice voting to be unconstitutional, and asking the court to declare him to be the winner. Chief U.S. district judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine Lance E. Walker rejected all of Poliquin's arguments, and upheld the certified results. Poliquin then appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and asked the court to issue an emergency injunction that would prevent Golden from being certified as the winner. His request was denied. On December 24, Poliquin dropped his lawsuit, clearing the path for Golden to be seated in the 116th United States Congress.
2020
Golden ran for reelection in 2020 and won the Democratic primary unopposed. His Republican opponent was Dale Crafts, a former Maine representative. Most political pundits expected Golden to win the general election easily; polling showed him ahead of Crafts by an average of about 19%, Sabato's Crystal Ball and The Cook Political Report both rating the contest as "Likely Democratic", and analysis website FiveThirtyEight predicted that Golden had a 96 out of 100 chance of winning, with Golden garnering nearly 57% of the vote in their projection of the most likely scenario.
In November, Golden defeated Crafts 53%–47%. President Donald Trump carried the district in that same election.
2022
Golden ran for reelection in 2022 and won the Democratic primary unopposed. Redistricting pushed the 2nd further into Kennebec County. Notably, he picked up Augusta, which had long been part of the 1st district.
Golden faced former Republican congressman Bruce Poliquin, whom he narrowly beat in 2018, and independent Tiffany Bond, who also ran for the 2nd congressional district seat in 2018. In July, Golden was endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, Maine's largest police union, which "split the ticket" by also endorsing former Republican governor Paul LePage. Polls again showed Golden with a lead, but many organizations rated the seat as a "tossup", as incumbent president Joe Biden was unpopular and inflation was approaching 40-year highs; Decision Desk HQ even gave the seat a "Leans Republican" rating. Nonetheless, Golden led the field in the first round, and defeated Poliquin 53%–47% after Bond's second-choice votes mostly flowed to him.
2024
Golden won a fourth term in Congress. He very narrowly defeated Republican state Representative Austin Theriault, who was endorsed by Donald Trump.
Golden's district was again concurrently carried by Trump in the 2024 United States presidential election in Maine.
Tenure
Golden was sworn in on January 3, 2019. During the election for speaker of the House, he voted against Democratic Caucus nominee Nancy Pelosi, as he had pledged to do during his campaign, instead casting his vote for Representative Cheri Bustos of Illinois. Golden voted in 2019 for Article I of the articles of impeachment against Donald Trump but was one of three Democrats to vote against Article II.
Golden endorsed Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado during the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries.
Golden represents the second-most rural district in the United States, with 72% of its population living in rural areas. The district also has the second-highest proportion of non-Hispanic White residents (94%). Only Kentucky's 5th congressional district exceeds it in the two categories. Additionally, his district was carried by Donald Trump in 2020, the only district in New England to do so.
On November 5, 2025, Golden, stating that he had "grown tired of the increasing incivility and plain nastiness" of contemporary politics, announced he would not seek re-election in the 2026 election.
Committee assignments For the 119th Congress: Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries
Caucus memberships Blue Dog Coalition Congressional Equality Caucus For Country Caucus (co-chair) Problem Solvers Caucus
Political positions Golden is a conservative Blue Dog Democrat. He has advocated what he calls "progressive conservatism" and was described as an "obstinate independent" by Axios. Golden stated in 2024 that he had not attended a Democratic caucus meeting since October 2021, which his spokesperson explained by saying that it's because he is "the most independent member of his party in the House" so he "has little need" to attend those meetings.
Economics Golden was the only Democrat to have voted for a 2025 Republican stopgap spending bill to avert a government shutdown, voting against the instructions of House Democratic leadership.
Infrastructure
In November 2021, Golden was the only House Democrat to vote with Republicans against the Build Back Better Act. He cited concerns about the proposed elimination of the $10,000 cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, characterizing the provision as a "tax break for millionaires", while also criticizing the bill's lack of comprehensive prescription drug pricing reform.
However, in August 2022 he joined Democrats to vote for the Inflation Reduction Act, an amended version of the original bill that excluded the SALT deduction provision and incorporated provisions allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices.
Trade Golden was one of 38 Democrats to vote against the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement Implementation Act. He expressed concern that the law's labeling requirements would not prevent international companies from misbranding products, potentially harming Maine businesses. Golden also voiced skepticism about enforcement, citing America's perceived poor track record with previous trade agreements in protecting workers.