Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) announced on Nov. 5, 2025, that he will not seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026.

On his retirement, Golden posted on X, “After much deliberation, I’ve decided not to seek reelection in 2026. I’m confident that were I to run again, I would win. But recent events have made me reconsider whether the good I can do in Congress still outweighs the cost to my family.”

In 2018, Golden won his first term in the U.S. House in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District. In the general election, Golden defeated incumbent Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-Maine) 51% to 49%. Golden was one of 30 challengers who defeated a U.S. House incumbent in a general election in 2018.

In his three subsequent re-election bids, Golden won by six percentage points in 2020, six percentage points in 2022, and 0.6 percentage points in 2024.

As of Nov. 4, 2025, independent race forecasters The Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball have rated the 2026 general election for the district a Toss-up. Inside Elections rated it Tilt Democratic.

As of Nov. 5, 2025, Golden is one of 40 members of the U.S. Congress—eight U.S. Senate members and 32 U.S. House members—who have announced they will not seek re-election to their current seats in 2026.

Of the 32 representatives not seeking re-election:

• Nine—six Democrats and three Republicans—are retiring from public office.
• Twelve—six Democrats and six Republicans—are running for the U.S. Senate.
• Ten—all Republicans—are running for governor.
• One Republican is running for state attorney general.

Compared to the last four election cycles, there were 25 retirement announcements at this point in 2024, 24 in 2022, 27 in 2020, and 31 in 2018.

Between January 2011 to November 2025, Ballotpedia followed 335 announcements from U.S. House members who announced they would not seek re-election. January had the highest number of members announcing they would not run for re-election at 57. The fewest announcements took place in June at 15.