Nov. 12 (UPI) — Democrat Jordan Wood has ended his bid for the Democratic Party’s nomination to run for the U.S. Senate and instead will focus on winning a seat in the House of Representatives.
Wood, Maine Gov. Janet Mills and oyster farmer Graham Platner initially sought the Democratic Party’s nomination to run against incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins for the Senate during the 2026 election.
Wood has changed course and announced his candidacy to fill the seat being vacated by Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat who has held the seat since 2019, Maine Morningstar reported.
Golden last week announced he is not seeking another term in office.
“What do we do in this moment of crisis for our country and our state in Democracy?” Wood rhetorically asked an interviewer, as reported by Politico.
“That is what called me into the Senate race,” he said. “With Jared not running, it leaves open one of the most competitive House races in the entire country. So I’m stepping up to take that on, because I believe we must.”
President Donald Trump carried Maine’s Second Congressional District by 10 points in the Nov. 5, 2024, general election, and the seat leans Republican, according to Politico.
Wood said Democrats have momentum from last week’s elections and anticipates it will carry into the 2026 election cycle.
“What I hear from voters across the state is an anger and a frustration at a broken politics and less directed at a single person but a political establishment,” he said.
“Voters are really looking for candidates that are putting forward a vision for the future that they can believe in and that is addressing the biggest issues that they face in life.”
Wood is a former congressional aide who worked in Washington for a decade and is a resident of Bristol which is not in the Second Congressional District that Golden represents.
Wood and his husband live about 20 miles outside of the district, but Wood said he grew up there.
He raised more than $3 million in campaign funds since April and has $920,000 still available to help support his bid to win the Democratic Party nomination for the House seat.
State auditor Matt Dunlap also seeks the party’s nomination for the seat.
Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage also wants the House seat and has $716,000 in campaign funds so far, according to Politico.