State Rep. Austin Theriault (R-Fort Kent) launched a digital advertisement campaign Wednesday for his 2024 bid to unseat Democratic Congressman Jared Golden in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District.
[RELATED: NASCAR Driver Austin Theriault Joins the Race for Maine’s Second Congressional District…]
The advertisement incorporates clips from Theriault’s time as a NASCAR driver, including a clip of a first-place finish at Daytona International Speedway.
“I’m running to fight for those who don’t have a voice in today’s America, where special interest groups really seem to be the only ones getting ahead,” Theriault said in the ad.
In the advertisement Theriault emphasizes several issues, including the state of the economy under President Joe Biden, the crisis at the southern border, and “radical bureaucrats” pushing for electric vehicle mandates.
“The working class is getting left behind, and ‘just okay’ is not going to cut it,” Theriault continues in the ad. “We need somebody who’s going to be aggressive, and we need somebody who’s really going to fight back against the radical policies and the radical politicians who seem to be stealing the airwaves.”
More of the Maine Wire’s coverage of the 2024 CD-2 race:
- Bellows’ Trump Ballot Ban Becomes Flashpoint in Maine’s Toss-Up CD2 Race
- Mike Soboleski Intervenes to Defend Trump’s Right to Appear on the Maine Ballot
- Maine Congressional Candidates Tour Illegal Chinese Marijuana Sites With The Maine Wire: VIDEO
- Republican Rob Cross Suspends Campaign for Maine’s CD-2
Rep. Theriault’s ad campaign comes the same day as Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson announced his endorsement of the former NASCAR driver.
In his endorsement message, Speaker Johnson said Theriault — who is currently serving his first term in Maine’s House of Representatives– is “a hardworking public servant with a strong track record of success.”
“His rural Maine values have shaped him and his character, and I know he’ll do everything he can to make life better for Mainers,” Johnson said. “Austin will hold Joe Biden and Jared Golden — both failed leaders — accountable, and he’s the best candidate to beat Jared Golden in November.”
Theriault faces competition in the 2024 CD-2 Republican primary from his fellow State Rep. Mike Soboleski (R-Phillips).
Both Theriault and Soboleski have criticized Golden for going along with the Biden administration’s legislative agenda, as well as his flip-flop on an assault weapon ban following the Oct. 25 shootings in Lewiston.
[RELATED: Rep. Jared Golden’s Republican 2024 Opponents Slam His Reversal on Assault Weapons Ban…]
The two are expected to engage in three debates in the leadup to the 2024 GOP primary, before voters choose which of the two candidates will challenge Golden in the general election.
Theriault recently boasted that his campaign has raised more than $355,000 since he entered the race in late September, though the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has yet to publish his campaign’s first three-month finance report.
Watch Rep. Theriault’s campaign ad below:
Gee to get an endorsement from a crooked moron who either isn’t smart enough to read a real estate contract or who probably did but was screwing the tax man… hard pass.
Swamp creature endorsement is a fail.