By Michael Shepherd - April 5, 2023
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📷 U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine's 2nd District, speaks at a news conference on Nov. 1, 2022, at the State House in Augusta. (AP photo by Robert F. Bukaty)

Hello from Augusta. The Legislature is in today. Here are the House and Senate calendars, plus the committee agenda.

What we're watching today

The first Republican declares a run against Maine's durable yet vulnerable congressman. Former Maine Senate candidate Robert Cross of Dedham said Wednesday that he would run against U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine's 2nd District. It comes a week after we reported that the mortgage broker from Dedham was among a short list of Republicans considering a run.

He is the first but almost assuredly not the last Republican to jump into the 2024 swing-seat election. Caratunk selectperson Liz Caruso, who ran a longshot primary against former U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin in 2022, has said she is considering a run, as has state Rep. Laurel Libby of Auburn.

All are untested at high levels of Maine politics. Cross lost his legislative primary last year to Sen. Peter Lyford, R-Penobscot, although the candidate managed housing program in the region for the U.S. Department of Agriculture for decades and comes from a well-known Bangor-area business family as the grandson of the late Woodrow Cross, who founded Cross Insurance.

"My whole life, I've been brought up to have an interest in people in general, it doesn't matter who they are, what they believe what they think, or anything," he said last week. "It's sad to see where our country has changed so much and how it's impacted the people in our state."

Golden has registered impressive performances since ousting Poliquin in 2018. He won more votes than former President Donald Trump when they shared the 2020 in the conservative-leaning district, then beat Poliquin again last year by a 6 percentage points in the second race between the two to be decided by ranked-choice voting.

The district will always be a difficult one for the congressman, but he cut across normal political alliances to win in 2022. Golden's votes against Democratic gun control policies led the National Rifle Association, which endorsed Poliquin in 2018, to sit out of the race. Golden won the endorsement of a key police group here and was also praised by the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, which helped draft a gun safety bill that Golden backed but Poliquin opposed.

Golden is taking a more prominent role in national politics, now leading the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of centrist Democrats. Though FiveThirtyEight found he voted with Biden less than any other House Democrat in the last Congress, Republicans will argue that he is mostly in line with his party, especially after a high-profile vote last year for the Inflation Reduction Act.

Cross is getting an early start in filing. Poliquin entered the 2022 race in August of the previous year. The candidate's announcement news release was sent by Charlie Puyear, a Republican consultant based in Kansas City, Missouri, breaking somewhat with the recent tradition of operatives with Maine backgrounds heading up major-seat campaigns.

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News and notes

📷 First lady Jill Biden arrives in South Portland to tour Southern Maine Community College on Wednesday. (BDN photo by Troy R. Bennett)

🇺🇸 The first lady touches down in Maine for a community college tour.

◉ Jill Biden, the wife of President Joe Biden, arrived in South Portland just after 11 a.m. on Wednesday for her tour of Southern Maine Community College.

◉ The first stop was at an automotive technology center. U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona accompanied Biden alongside U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat from Maine's 1st District, and mayors Kate Snyder of Portland and Katherine Lewis of South Portland.

◉ The visit is part of President Biden's "Investing in America Tour," in which he and other administration officials are touring the country to highlight recent economic actions. Gov. Janet Mills skipped the visit due to a recent positive test for COVID-19.

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What we're reading

📁 Attorney General Aaron Frey disclosed a months-long relationship with an employee he supervised.

⏸️ Sen. Susan Collins said former President Donald Trump's indictment gives her pause. Here are the issues at play in the prosecution.

🔜 The Associated Press looks at the abortion bills coming up in the Legislature.

🗑️ A new financial partner joins the effort to restart a Maine trash plant.

🌊 This hardy clam offers opportunity in warming Maine seas. Here's your soundtrack.

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