A former NASCAR driver who had the support of former President Donald Trump has won the Republican primary in Maine’s Second Congressional District.
Austin Theriault, who is currently a member of the Maine state House, defeated fellow state Rep. Michael Soboleski by a dominating 66.2 percent to 33.8 percent, according to WMTW-TV in Poland Spring, Maine.
Theriault now faces Democratic Rep. Jared Golden.
Theriault, 30, called the primary win an “honor of my life.”
“I deeply appreciate the support and want folks to know: I am running to fight for you,” he said, according to WMTW. “It’s time to start putting people over politics. Too many Mainers have been forgotten and left behind by the political system in DC and the big money on Wall Street.
“The reality is that Jared Golden and Joe Biden have failed us, and we see the results every day,” Theriault said. “The 2nd District is falling further and further behind and that’s not acceptable to me. That’s why I got in this race. We need to look at November as a good chance to get Maine’s 2nd District back on its feet.”
Theriault said his endorsement from Trump was a major reason Republican voters supported him Tuesday.
“He looked at [the race] and said, ‘I think he’s a good fit for the Second District,’” Theriault said, according to WMTW. “‘He’s somebody that can go to Congress and get stuff done.’”
I deeply appreciate this honor. It’s time to put people over politics! 🇺🇸https://t.co/Iga5sz4swP
— Austin Theriault (@AustinTheriault) June 12, 2024
Theriault was also endorsed by House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Immigration is one of Theriault’s priorities.
“I know that we live thousands of miles away from the southern border, but it’s a huge issue because of the drugs coming across and the human trafficking,” he said.
Soboleski said he would issue a statement on Wednesday when asked of he would congratulate Theriault, according to the Bangor (Maine) Daily News.
Will Austin Theriault win in November?
“We unturned every stone we could,” Soboleski said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way, and the voters have decided what they want to do.”
The Golden-Theriault race “is certainly shaping up as one of the top 10 House races in the country, if not the top five,” Mark Brewer, a political scientist with the University of Maine said, according to The Associated Press. “It’s an incredibly evenly divided district, and there are increasingly few of those.”
According to Theriault’s campaign biography, in 2017 he won the ARCA Racing Series national championship, and that since retiring from driving moved into racing management, “mentoring, managing and training new drivers.” He was elected to Maine’s legislature in 2022.
As a legislator, Theriault sought to impeach Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows after Bellows ruled former President Donald Trump could not be on Maine’s presidential ballot, citing a section of the 14th Amendment. The ruling was later set aside.
“I voted to impeach Shenna Bellows because she has proven that she can’t do her job fairly. Secretary Bellows unilaterally took the ability to vote away from Mainers. That’s unacceptable, and she should either resign or be removed from office. The people should pick their president — it’s that simple,” he wrote on his campaign Facebook page.
