A lack of health care hits residents especially hard in Maine, with the oldest population in the country, and so the Democratic challenger in the state's Second Congressional District is focused on saddling the incumbent with his vote to kill "Obamacare," following a playbook unfolding across the country.
Rep. Bruce Poliquin, New England's only Republican in the House of Representatives, voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act last year in the Republicans' most recent attempt to end former President Barack Obama's signature program. Democrat Jared Golden is not letting voters forget.
Asked why he thought the race was so close — the Cook Political Report puts it as a toss-up — Golden singled out Poliquin's vote and the deep cuts in Medicaid it would have brought. Maine residents have voted to expand Medicaid under "Obamacare," a step with bipartisan support that would give an additional 80,000 people health coverage.
"There is no clearer contrast in this election than that and it's not between me and Bruce, it's between Bruce and his own constituents," Golden said.
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Not only does Maine have the oldest population in the country, according to the Census, an AARP survey[1] in September found that health care was the top issue for those 50 and older.
The Second District sprawls across Maine, the largest congressional district east of the Mississippi River, a mostly rural expanse covering all but the southern part of the state near Portland and Augusta. It has an equal number of registered Democrats and Republicans, and more voters than either without a party affiliation.
Poliquin has represented it for two terms, but before he won the seat in 2014 it was held for 20 years by Democrats. President Donald Trump took the district
