The Intercept80%
Maine Dems to Vote on Condemning DCCC Interference in House Primary 63%
By Noah Hurowitz73%
5/7/2026, 5:31:27 PM
Topics: Midterms
Keywords: Dccc, Maine, House Primary, Joe Baldacci, Matt Dunlap, Jordan Wood, Paige Loud, Democratic Endorsement
BS Summary: This article contains 18 faulty reasoning types, including Politically Left Leaning Bias, Negativity Bias, and Halo Effect, with Biased Writer Voice as the most egregious example at 16.3% saturation with 142 hits. Analysis detected 1,245 faulty-reasoning hits from 873 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 57.6% and a BS Rank of 63% (8,289 of 21,887 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 62.10% of the article peer group.
Locals in Maine are bridling at the decision by a powerful Washington Democratic group to throw its weight behind one candidate in the contested primary race for the House seat in the state’s 2nd Congressional District.
On Monday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee issued a coveted endorsement of state Sen.
Joe Baldacci in the primary race, prompting angry protests from the three other candidates in the race to replace outgoing Democratic Rep.
Jared Golden.
In response to the endorsement, the Penobscot County Democratic Committee — in Baldacci’s home county, which includes the city of Bangor — will vote Saturday on a measure to condemn the endorsement.
The language of the proposal, which was put forward by former Maine state Senate President Charles Pray, denounces the endorsement as being in “total disregard and willfully ignoring” local party rules that bar the Democratic state and county chapters from backing a candidate in a primary.
“Let the people decide.
Let the voters in the primary make that determination.”
“With the DCCC deciding to throw itself into the mix here, truthfully that just kind of aggravated me,” Pray told The Intercept.
“I’m going to support whoever wins the Democratic nomination, but I just think it was an unfair position on their part of trying to dictate or trying to boost up a candidate.
Point is, let the people decide.
Let the voters in the primary make that determination.”
Pray, who previously worked in the Clinton and Obama administrations and described himself as “a progressive moderate with liberal tendencies but conservative perspectives,” has personally backed State Auditor Matt Dunlap in the race, but said his pique at the DCCC’s endorsement isn’t about any one candidate.
“This has nothing to do with Joe — I think all four of them have an equal chance,” Pray said.
“It’s a primary, and, by the way, our state party rules and our county rules are that the party organization cannot endorse or support a candidate.”
A spokesperson for the DCCC said the group was focused on winning in the general elections and beating back President Donald Trump’s agenda.
“It’s imperative that Democrats must take back the House to hold Trump accountable and deliver on what truly matters to voters,” said the spokesperson, Viet Shelton.
“That’s why we are proud to announce our latest round of Red to Blue candidates who span the ideological spectrum, are authentic voices in their districts, and are best positioned to win in November.”
Four-Way Race
The race to replace Golden — who announced in November that he would not seek reelection — is being closely watched nationwide ahead of the midterm elections.
Whoever takes the Democratic primary will square off against Paul LePage, a brash, plainspoken businessman and Republican former governor whose time running Maine was marked by proto-MAGA far-right populism.
Baldacci is facing off against Dunlap, who is also a former Maine secretary of state; Jordan Wood, a longtime Democratic fundraiser and political operative; and Paige Loud, a social worker and first-time candidate.
In the wake of the DCCC endorsement of Baldacci, the other candidates in the race took aim at D.C.
Democrats for picking a side.
“It’s undemocratic for national establishment Democrats to put their thumb on the scale in any primary,” Dunlap said.
“Just like in certain other races across Maine this year, they won’t decide this one — the people of Maine will.”
With Dunlap picking up endorsements from Our Revolution, Rep.
Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and other progressives, Baldacci — who enjoys name recognition as the brother of former Gov.
John Baldacci — is widely seen as the establishment candidate in the race.
Reached by phone Thursday, Baldacci declined to comment on the Penobscot County party proposal condemning the endorsement, but said he was glad to have the backing of Democrats in Washington.
“I’m pleased that they did it,” Baldacci said, referring to the endorsement.
“My understanding is they based it on polling to determine who is the best candidate to run against LePage.”
Wood said the DCCC move demonstrated the problems with Washington party politics.
“The fact that the national Democratic Party would come in and try to decide this primary literally weeks before we vote is just another example of how broken our Democratic leadership is,” he said.
“It’s annoying that the DCCC thinks they know better than Mainers.”
A Pan Atlantic Omnibus poll in March put Baldacci well ahead of his opponents, but there is little in the way of recent polling to indicate a current popular favorite in the race.
Following the stunning collapse of Gov.
Janet Mills’s bid for the U.S.
Senate — despite the backing of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee — against populist insurgent Graham Platner, not everyone in Maine sees the DCCC as the best political oracle to follow.
“It’s annoying that the DCCC thinks they know better than Mainers,” said Loud, the left-leaning social worker.
“We just saw the DSCC’s endorsement of Janet Mills, and we all saw how that turned out.
I don’t think they have the finger on the pulse.”
Update: May 7, 2026, 5:12 p.m.
ET
This story has been updated to include Jordan Wood’s experience as a political operative.
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