Establishment campaign or ‘lemonade stand’? A look at fundraising behind Maine’s CD2 primary

Reps. Austin Theriault (left) and Mike Soboleski (right) are both vying for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden in November. (Photos via Maine House Republicans)

Both Republican candidates vying to unseat Jared Golden in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District have said they are running a “grassroots campaign.”

But in the most recent debate, Rep. Mike Soboleski pushed back against fellow Republican House member Austin Theriault’s definition of “grassroots.”

“We are a true grassroots campaign,” Soboleski said. “What’s important in the campaign is to make sure you have enough money to run the campaign that you want. It’s not a race to see who raised the most.”

Responding to Soboleski’s charge that he is running an “establishment campaign,” Theriault said, “If we want to play lemonade stand and see who is going to win in the second district, our campaign is not going to do that — we’re focused on winning.”

The two candidates are facing off in the June 11 Republican primary for the 2nd district.

Overall, Theriault has hauled in more than a million dollars, compared to the $100,000 Soboleski has raised, according to Maine Morning Star’s review of Federal Election Commission data. While each of them are getting the bulk of their money from individual contributors, rather than political groups, the breakdown isn’t even.  

For every $10 Theriault raised, $6.89 of it came from individual contributors while $8.67 of every $10 Soboleski got came from individual contributors. 

Money from billionaires and bigwigs

During the debate, Soboleski said he isn’t using any money from Washington, D.C., PACs. 

In fact, he said, “D.C. took a look at me and they do not want me down there. I’m not going to play the D.C. game.” 

Data for the entire election cycle supports Soboleski’s claim: He hasn’t accepted any money from PACs. Theriault, however, has accepted more money from PACs than Soboleski has raised in total. 

Since September, Theriault has received $177,225 from PACs and political committees. This includes more than $116,000 from Grow the Majority, the fundraising committee U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana created to support Republicans running for House seats. 

The remaining money came from numerous political committees tied to sitting members of Congress, including nearly $21,000 from Emmer Majority Builders, the fundraising committee for House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota, and $10,000 from Eye of the Tiger PAC, which is affiliated with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana.

Billionaires, including Ross Perot Jr., Charles Schwab, Belinda VanderSloot and Paul Singer, have also donated to the Theriault campaign.

How many of the individual donors are Mainers?

While both candidates have accepted donations from people outside of Maine, the majority of the money Soboleski received has come from in-state donors. The FEC lists total individual contributions by state, excluding PAC or party contributions and donations through party fundraising platforms like WinRed and ActBlue. 

According to the FEC data, Soboleski received more than $36,000 from Mainers. As for out-of-state donors, he only received $1,020 from Nevada and $50 from Florida. 

Theriault has also received more money from Mainers ($228,376) than out-of-state donors ($50,183). The majority of donations from outside Maine came from Texas and Florida, with lesser amounts coming from five other states. 

Maine politicians weigh in on contest

Among the politicians who have supported his candidacy, Theriault received money from Maine legislators including Rep. Mark Blier (R-Buxton) and Rep. Sawin Millett (R-Waterford), as well as ??former GOP gubernatorial candidate Shawn Moody. He also received $6,600 from the late Linda Bean, granddaughter of L.L. Bean, before she died in March.

Soboleski boasts financial support from other Maine lawmakers, including Sen. Russell Black (R-Franklin), Sen. Peter Lyford (R-Penobscot), Rep. Bob Nutting (R-Oakland), Rep. David Woodsome (R-Waterboro) and Rep. John Andrews (R-Paris).

Other notable contributors to Soboleski include Dale Crafts, the former Republican 2nd District nominee who lost to Golden in 2020, former Senate Minority Leader Dana Dow and Garrett Mason, a former Senate Majority Leader.

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