{"id":728,"date":"2026-07-28T18:40:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T18:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=728"},"modified":"2026-07-28T18:40:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T18:40:23","slug":"matt-dunlap-says-hed-welcome-dccc-support-in-battleground-maine-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=728","title":{"rendered":"Matt Dunlap says he\u2019d welcome DCCC support in battleground Maine district"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

BANGOR, Maine \u2014 As his state was rocked by a shake-up in the Senate race, Democrat Matt Dunlap says he\u2019s\u00a0focused on affordability concerns in his quest to keep his party\u2019s hold on a red-leaning House district.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more No quick fix for sexual misconduct in the House<\/a><\/p>\n

Dunlap, the state auditor who is running to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, says his message is resonating with voters in the battleground 2nd District.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Republicans see the seat \u2014 a district that Donald Trump carried three times \u2014 as a prime pickup opportunity in a challenging midterm election year. Their nominee is former two-term Gov. Paul LePage, who carried the seat even when he lost the 2022 gubernatorial election. And the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee hasn\u2019t yet added Dunlap to its program for promising candidates, since he defeated the committee\u2019s endorsed candidate in last month\u2019s primary.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always said that no opportunity to be a grown-up ever seems to pass me by,\u201d Dunlap said in an interview Saturday on the sidelines of a party convention to pick a new Senate nominee. \u201cI\u2019d like to be spiteful and vengeful and get a reckoning. But, really, you can\u2019t have a rearview mirror because we have 101 days in front of us, and we need the help from anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dunlap is one of three Democratic nominees who have defeated candidates backed by the DCCC in House primaries this year. He overcame DCCC-backed state Sen. Joe Baldacci and two other candidates in the June primary after the state\u2019s ranked choice voting system kicked in.<\/p>\n

But unlike Dunlap, the other two nominees have since joined the DCCC\u2019s \u201cRed to Blue\u201d program for top recruits, who receive additional party support. California\u2019s Randy Villegas, a local school board trustee who is challenging Republican Rep. David Valadao, was included on the list last month, and former Arizona state Rep. Amish Shah, who won a primary for an open swing seat last week, was added Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dunlap said he\u2019s been focused on what he can control. While he\u2019s been in communication with the DCCC, he said there\u2019s still some frustration among grassroots voters in Maine around the group\u2019s involvement in a competitive open primary, something both Shah and Villegas also criticized. The DCCC has backed candidates in 10 contested primaries so far this year, with its preferred candidate winning seven of those races.<\/p>\n

\u201cLong term, I think the DCCC needs to look at that because they\u2019ve spent a lot of money backing candidates who the public didn\u2019t want, in varying degrees,\u201d Dunlap said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The DCCC did not say whether it planned to add Dunlap to the \u201cRed to Blue\u201d list but spokesperson Nebeyatt Betre said Dunlap had \u201cspent his career standing up for working Mainers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know voters are eager to hold Republicans accountable for making their lives more expensive, and Mainers know exactly what Paul LePage stands for \u2014 that\u2019s why they\u2019re ready to reject him and send Matt Dunlap to Congress instead,\u201d she said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Very competitive\u2019<\/h2>\n

Maine\u2019s 2nd District is the largest House district east of the Mississippi River and covers much of the state north of Portland.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more How Trump\u2019s political director came to Congress<\/a><\/p>\n

Dunlap\u2019s campaign released a poll last week showing him in a statistical tie with LePage. He said the result showed that the race is \u201cvery competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The House race is also playing out in the shadow of a competitive Senate race, where the newly minted Democratic nominee, Troy Jackson, is taking on longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Jackson replaced the scandal-plagued Graham Platner, and Republicans are already seeking to tie Dunlap to Platner, who dropped out of the race after an allegation of sexual assault, which he denies.<\/p>\n

Dunlap has been a longtime fixture in Maine politics. He was first elected to the state House in 1996 and went on to serve four terms. He was later elected by the legislature as secretary of state, serving for 14 years in total, and state legislators also picked him for his current role as Maine auditor.\u00a0In 2012, he ran unsuccessfully for Senate.<\/p>\n

Dunlap said he expects economic concerns, including rising health care and heating costs, to be the focal point of his message come November. Democrats plan to tie LePage to House Republicans\u2019 economic agenda while attacking his opposition to Medicaid expansion as governor.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this was a race where he was still the former mayor of Waterville, and not the former governor, it\u2019d be a much more difficult,\u201d Dunlap said. \u201cWhat I think I speak to is an alternative, which is we should put government to work for people.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Republicans counter that LePage remains popular with district voters, citing his efforts as governor to keep rural hospitals open and his support for tax cuts. They\u2019re likely to cast Dunlap, who supports \u201cMedicare for All,\u201d as too far left for the district.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Holding the 2nd District seat, on paper, looks to be an uphill climb for Democrats. Trump carried it by 9 points in 2024, and Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the race Likely Republican.\u00a0<\/p>\n

LePage also has a significant cash advantage. Recent filings with the Federal Election Commission show he entered July with $1.7 million in the bank, while Dunlap, who had to contend with a competitive primary, ended the second quarter with $229,000 on hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Republicans also point to a May poll by the National Republican Congressional Committee that showed LePage leading Dunlap by 10 points as a sign of their candidate\u2019s strength.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDunlap is completely out of step with Mainers, and his campaign is dead on arrival,\u201d NRCC spokeswoman Maureen O\u2019Toole said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more At the Races: Like father, like daughter?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BANGOR, Maine \u2014 As his state was rocked by a shake-up in the Senate race, Democrat Matt Dunlap says he\u2019s\u00a0focused on affordability concerns in his quest to keep his party\u2019s hold on a red-leaning House district.\u00a0\u00a0 Dunlap, the state auditor who is running to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, says his message is resonating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campaigns"],"yoast_head":"\nMatt Dunlap says he\u2019d welcome DCCC support in battleground Maine district - American Industry Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=728\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Matt Dunlap says he\u2019d welcome DCCC support in battleground Maine district - American Industry Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BANGOR, Maine \u2014 As his state was rocked by a shake-up in the Senate race, Democrat Matt Dunlap says he\u2019s\u00a0focused on affordability concerns in his quest to keep his party\u2019s hold on a red-leaning House district.\u00a0\u00a0 Dunlap, the state auditor who is running to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. 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