{"id":2495537,"date":"2025-10-07T08:50:01","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T12:50:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/libs-look-to-cut-off-nose-to-spite-face-as-lefty-primaries-one-of-few-capitol-hill-dems-in-deep-red-trump-country\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T08:51:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T12:51:06","slug":"libs-look-to-cut-off-nose-to-spite-face-as-lefty-primaries-one-of-few-capitol-hill-dems-in-deep-red-trump-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/libs-look-to-cut-off-nose-to-spite-face-as-lefty-primaries-one-of-few-capitol-hill-dems-in-deep-red-trump-country\/","title":{"rendered":"Libs Look to Cut Off Nose to Spite Face As Lefty Primaries One of Few Capitol Hill Dems in Deep-Red Trump Country"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">44<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flibs-look-to-cut-off-nose-to-spite-face-as-lefty-primaries-one-of-few-capitol-hill-dems-in-deep-red-trump-country%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2495537&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>the article discusses an unusual political development in Maine amid nationwide redistricting battles. Instead of parties aggressively trying to hold or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-border-invasion-will-bolster-democrats-electoral-college-majority\/\" title=\"Biden&#039;s border influx strengthens ...&#039; Electoral College edge\">gain congressional seats<\/a>, Maine progressives are risking losing a key Democratic seat to push a message about party purity in the &#8220;post-woke&#8221; era. State auditor Matt Dunlap is launching a primary challenge against incumbent Democratic Congressman Jared Golden, who holds a competitive seat in Maine&#8217;s Second Congressional District, a district that votes Republican in presidential races.<\/p>\n<p>Golden is known as a moderate Democrat who has won narrowly despite the district&#8217;s conservative leanings, and he has taken pragmatic stances on issues like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/poll-american-voters-reject-bidens-climate-agenda-want-reliable-affordable-domestic-energy\/\" title=\"Poll: American Voters Reject Biden\u2019s Climate Agenda \u2013 Want Reliable, Affordable Domestic Energy\u00a0\">electric vehicle mandates<\/a> and energy policy. The Democratic Congressional campaign Committee has expressed concern that Dunlap&#8217;s challenge threatens Golden&#8217;s chances and could lead to the seat flipping Republican in the general election, especially sence the likely Republican candidate would be former Governor Paul LePage, a Tea party favorite.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally,the article touches on the 2026 Senate race,noting that popular Democratic Governor Janet Mills might hesitate to run due to progressive challengers like Graham Platner,a far-left candidate endorsed by progressive media. This dynamic could further expose internal Democratic divides between moderates and the party&#8217;s progressive wing.<\/p>\n<p>the piece argues that these progressive primary challenges risk weakening Democrats&#8217; hold on important swing seats in Maine, potentially jeopardizing thier broader electoral prospects.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>With a series of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >redistricting battles happening<\/a> across the nation &mdash; particularly in California and Texas &mdash; you would think that the Democrats and Republicans would be scrambling to take every congressional seat they can get.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, progressives in Maine might be looking to&nbsp;<em>lose<\/em> a seat &mdash; all to make a point about party purity in the post-woke era.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/themainemonitor.org\/dunlap-primary-challenge-against-golden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Maine Monitor<\/a>, State Auditor Matt Dunlap announced Monday that he was launching a primary competition against incumbent Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, one of the few blue representatives left in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ethics-office-finds-substantial-reason-to-believe-republican-rep-illegally-accepted-caribbean-vacation\/\" title=\"Ethics Office Finds \u2018Substantial Reason To Believe\u2019 Republican Rep Illegally Accepted Caribbean Vacation\">deep-red seat<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Golden, who has run toward the center ever since his first campaign in 2018, has held onto Maine&rsquo;s Second Congressional District by <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Jared_Golden\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">small<\/a> but substantial enough margins each time. He won a 50.3 percent to 49.7 percent win over Republican Austin Theriault in 2024 despite the fact that Donald Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2024\/11\/05\/us\/elections\/results-maine-president-district-2.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">beat<\/a> Kamala Harris by a 53.8 to 44.2 percent margin in the same district.<\/p>\n<p>This isn&rsquo;t to say that Jared Golden is great; the best thing I can say about the guy is that we  the same last name. But the fact remains that he realizes facts, and those facts can hit his constituents hard. He&rsquo;s come out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/state-forced-cancel-electric-vehicle-mandate-vote-widespread-power-outages\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">against EV mandates<\/a>, for sane energy policy, and has made sense on the ongoing government shutdown, too.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>And, in the 2026 midterms, it&rsquo;ll also be one of the swing seats under the national microscope, considering that Maine is also home to one of the few Republican senators in a Democrat-leaning state &mdash; another moderate, Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/trump-now-2-0-swing-votes-susan-collins-announces-voting-acquit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Susan Collins<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Dunlap, apparently, wants to torpedo both opportunities for the Democrats by reminding everyone that they&rsquo;re now the AOC-Mamdani party.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;What I&rsquo;ve heard from folks is they think we can do better. They&rsquo;re unhappy with our current situation,&rdquo; Dunlap said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You know, Jared Golden, people feel like he&rsquo;s been bad for us. He has developed a consistency of voting with the Republican caucus on very important issues that affect real Mainers.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>This could be a problem on a number of levels. First, in the Second Congressional District, as per the Maine Monitor:<\/p>\n<p><em>  The district&rsquo;s Republican lean has made national Democrats concerned that if Golden loses the primary, the party will lose the seat in the general election. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the House Democrats&rsquo; campaign arm, has warned both Dunlap and Maine Democratic leadership that if Golden isn&rsquo;t the nominee, it could jeopardize national investment in the race and endanger the party&rsquo;s chances of winning the majority, according to a source familiar with the situation.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The likely competition the winner of the primary would face would be an old-school Tea Party favorite, former Gov. Paul LePage, who led the state from 2011 to 2019. And not only would LePage be facing a hardline progressive, Golden said, but a fake one, as well.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;A 30-year party crony like Matt Dunlap won&rsquo;t cut it,&rdquo; Golden said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The last time Matt held elected office he was a pro-life Democrat at a time when that unfortunately wasn&rsquo;t unusual. Watching Dunlap try to recreate himself as a progressive would be amusing if it were not so cynical.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Actually, it&rsquo;s still pretty amusing.<\/p>\n<p>Then there&rsquo;s the Susan Collins factor. Despite the fact that, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ap-sen-susan-collins-defies-pollsters-big-budget-democrats-cruise-victory-maine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">every six years<\/a>, we&rsquo;re told Collins is going to get walloped by a Democratic challenger, it hasn&rsquo;t happened yet. This time, however, was actually shaping up to look scary, with popular Democratic Gov. Janet Mills rumored to be the coronated nominee if she wanted it.<\/p>\n<p>I&rsquo;m distinctly less fond of Mills than I am of Golden, but I&rsquo;m also a realist: She&rsquo;s a mainstream Democrat in a state that likes her where her only liability is her age (77), a liability which her opponent also has (72).<\/p>\n<p>However &mdash;&nbsp;<i>mirable dictu!<\/i>, as whatever Francophone Mainers might be left in the north of the state might say &mdash; a far-left oysterman with no governmental experience but a lot of Very Bad opinions on Israel, government spending, and American military might, Graham Platner, has jumped into the Democratic field and garnered the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/aug\/24\/graham-platner-maine-senate-oysterman\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">adulation<\/a> of progressive press around the world and Democratic voters in lobster country.<\/p>\n<p>Not only might this keep Mills out of the race, it would bring the worst <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/establishment-democrats-plotting-ways-stop-zohran-mamdani-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Zohran-esque elements<\/a> of the party out on primary day &mdash; meaning that both Platner and Dunlap would help each other.<\/p>\n<p>To which I say: Great! I&rsquo;m willing to take that bet. Platner is worrying but will likely be no materially different than Mills in terms of votes. And, as for Dunlap, he&rsquo;s unelectable in a district where Golden is barely electable. After a summer of scrambling to gerrymander as many Democratic seats as possible in states where the left is in control, they might be about to give one <em>away<\/em>. Go get &rsquo;em, team.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With numerous redistricting conflicts occurring nationwide-especially in California and Texas-you might expect Democrats and Republicans to fiercely compete for every congressional seat. However, progressives in Maine may actually be aiming to lose a seat to emphasize party purity<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2495538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Capitol.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[32592,64739,32923,6069,9973],"class_list":["post-2495537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-capitol-hill","tag-deep-red-districts","tag-democratic-party","tag-liberals","tag-primaries"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Capitol.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2495537"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2495541,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495537\/revisions\/2495541"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2495538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2495537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2495537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2495537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}