Jared Golden

House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana spoke to about 400 Republicans attending a "battle station" opening that doubled as a rally for 2nd District candidate Austin Theriault.

Maine's 2nd District congressman has yet to say whether he supports Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential contest. But Golden said he believes Democratic delegates — and not superdelegates like himself — should choose the party nominee.

The moderate Democrat from Maine's 2nd Congressional District also hadn't endorsed President Biden before he withdrew from the race for the White House, although Golden has made clear that he won't vote for former President Trump.

While details are still emerging about the incident, delegation members praised the immediate response from Secret Service agents when shots rang out at the Pennsylvania rally.

The 2nd District congressman also did not attend this week's House Democratic caucus meeting to discuss the state of the president's reelection campaign because he says only Biden — not Democratic leaders — can decide the next steps.

The three-term Democratic incumbent criticized other Democrats for predicting that another Trump term would endanger the nation. Instead, he said it will be up to Congress — as it has been in the past — to block harmful policies.

Republicans chose their congressional hopefuls while Democrats had a few interesting State House primary races around the state.

The former actor and Marine is competing against a fellow state lawmaker, former NASCAR driver Austin Theriault, for the Republican nomination next Tuesday.

Now a first-term legislator representing northern Aroostook County, Theriault has picked up former President Trump's endorsement and more than $1 million in donations in his primary run against Mike Soboleski.

The first night of the Maine Democratic State Convention was briefly disrupted by a small group of protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.