Dem
47
GOP
53
Just when the House was starting to look good for the Democrats, they got bad news from one of their own. Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) will not run for reelection. And he is not running for governor or the Senate. He is quitting politics. He said he never loved politics and just wants out.
This is not good for the blue team. ME-02, the biggest district east of the Mississippi by land area, is very white, very rural, and is R+4. Golden is a Blue Dog and was able to hold it, even though the Democrats are not that popular there out in the woods. It may be hard for the blue team to find a replacement, although in a blue wave, like the one on Tuesday, if they find a strong candidate, they have a chance. So far this cycle 14 Democrats have announced their retirements vs. 17 Republicans. The bad news for the Democrats is that most of the retiring Republicans are in safe districts. Ten of them are in districts running from R+10 to R+17. Unless the Republicans nominate real turkeys for those seats, they are safe. The list of retirements is available in the menu to the left of the map above. (V)