2020 General Election
Unique
Give him an asterisk.* Jared Golden https://jaredgoldenforcongress.com/ is the only Member of Congress to have been elected by Ranked Voting. After a several year struggle, Ranked Voting was introduced in Maine in 2018. It didn’t matter for ChelliePingre. She got an outright majority for ME CD 01. It didn’t matter for Janet Mills. She got an outright majority for Governor.
It mattered for Jared Golden and his ME CD 02 incumbent opponent. When the votes were counted, Golden was second of four candidates. No one had a majority.The votes of the fourth candidate were redistributed according to the voters’ rankings. Jared Golden gained, but not a majority. The votes of the third candidate were redistributed according to the voters’ ranking. Jared Golden won a majority. Just over 3,500 votes.
Jared Golden as a blue collar guy. Yes and No. His parents owned a golf course. A serious golf course. You could hold tournaments there. A public golf course.Jared spent his summers with the workers. Taking care of the course. He got on with the workers the golfers, too. Not a great student, he went to Farmington State –a blue collar school. He dropped out and joined the marines. After 9/11.
Military service. He was trained to carry a rocket launcher and explosives as well as an assault rifle. He recalls sitting in a fighting hole on a mountain top in Afghanistan. He recalls his unit hit by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, a friend getting wood fragments in his eyes. He recalls firefights in Iraq. He recalls house to house searches for weapons in Iraq. He recalls his commander in Iraq being asked by village elders why he was still there now that Hussein was ousted.
Homecoming. The VA described him as suffering from PTSD. He describes bad dreams, being startled by noises. He recalls getting drunk. His father recalls him floundering. They both recall a flock of low-wage jobs.
Homecoming II. Working in a pizza joint, thinking about how he could escape the trap he was in. Jared Golden told his boss. If he could, he’d go to nearby Bates College. Not a bad thought. The Dean of Admissions was a regular customer. They talked. Goldencould tell his story. He could get on with an admission deanas well as he got on with workers and golfers.
Homecoming III. Admitted to Bates. Substantial financial aid.A school job as a janitor. He majored in politics. He defended the military in class. He studied Pashto for a semester. He returned to Afghanistan for the summer to join a program helping teens.
Away. Jared Golden took a job in Afghanistan. Logistics. Moving offices from one side of Baghdad to the other. He moved himself to Washington. Worked for Senator Collins. Thought some more about his politics. He was a Democrat. Like his father, who never lost his fondness for JFK.A pragmatic Democrat.
Homecoming IV. He went to work for Democrats in Augusta, the state capitol. Ran for a Lewiston House seat in 2014. Elected, he soon became Assistant Majority Leader. And he got married. Bought a house for less than $100,000. Try that in Washington.
Home and away. Just what do you call it when someone is elected to Congress and goes to Washington? Home and away, I guess. Jared Golden is in Congress. On the House Armed Services Committee – along with a slew of other first year members. Ex military. Officers – all but him. Ex CIA.Former Presidential advisors.Others there because of the facilities in their districts. He joined the Progressive Caucus. Where he is comfortable. Pragmatic and progressive.
Staying the course. Help Jared Golden stay there. He can speak for the grunts. He can bring a different perspective. Make a donation. Make monthly donations. He is a keeper.
Incumbentd who need our help now for 2020.
Doug Jones AL Senator won by 21,924 of 1,348,720 votes
Ben McAdams UT 04 won by 694 votes of 269,271 votes
TJ Cox CA 21 won by 862 votes of 113,616 votes
Kendra Horn OK 05 won by 3,298 votes of 238,738 votes
Jared Golden ME 02 won by 3,509 votes of 281,371 votes*
Xochitl Torres Small NM 02 won by 3,722 votes of 199,256 votes
Andy Kim NJ 03 won by 3,973 votes of 306.875 votes
