What’s Happening?

This election cycle, NASCAR and politics are perhaps more intertwined than ever because of one political candidate. Former NASCAR driver Austin Theriault is running for the U.S. House of Representatives. What is the latest on the NASCAR driver running for Congress?

• Before being a politician, Theriault made 24 starts across all three NASCAR National Touring Series. His best finish came in the 2015 Craftsman Truck Series season opener at Daytona, where he finished fourth. He most recently made five starts for Rick Ware Racing in the Cup Series in 2019, with a best finish of 32nd at Michigan and Richmond. He also won the 2017 ARCA Menards Series Championship, driving for Kenny Schrader.
• In 2022, Theriault entered politics and was voted into the Maine Legislature as a Republican state representative in Maine’s 1st District. He took office in December of that year and is now running for the United States House of Representatives in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District against Democratic incumbent Jared Golden.
• This article will not focus on the particulars of where Theriault stands on different topics. Rather, it will be a general overview of how he got here and whether or not he can win the election he is currently in.

How Theriault Got Here

Theriault was born and raised in Fort Kent, Maine, which is within Maine’s 1st District in the state legislature. He’s representing the town and area he grew up in and has lived in his entire life.

He’s also very young. He was also only 28 years old when he was elected to the state legislature, and if elected, he would be sworn into office just weeks before his 31st birthday. If he were elected to the current congress, that age would qualify him as the second-youngest congressman in the country.

He won his current seat in the Maine legislature in a landslide victory in 2022. After running unopposed in the Republican primary, he won 71% of the popular vote in the general election.

He quickly focused on a bigger thing: running for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2024 election. He secured key endorsements from then-presumptive and now-official Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. Theriault beat Mike Soboleski, a fellow member of the Maine Legislature, in the Republican primary to secure the nomination. 

Can Theriault Win?

Theriault faces Democratic incumbent Jared Golden. Golden was also a Maine House of Representatives member before being voted into the U.S. House of Representatives over then-Republican incumbent Bruce Poliquin during the 2018 midterm elections. Golden staved off two more challenges from Poliquin in 2020 and 2022.

Maine tends to vary in terms of political parties. In Presidential elections, Maine has voted predominantly or all Democrat since 1992. However, in the Gubernatorial elections, Maine flip-flopped during that time, going from Republican to Independent to Democrat to Republican to Democrat.

Looking at Maine’s 2nd district, where Theriault will be running as a Republican, it could be an uphill battle. This district voted blue for the U.S. House of Representatives from 1994 through 2012 before Poliquin came in 2014, only for the district to vote blue again when Golden entered the scene in 2018.

Poll data is not yet available for Theriault vs Golden, so it’s tough to imagine how competitive the race will actually be. However, Theriault does have to face off against an incumbent who has gone through multiple reelection campaigns. We’ll find out where he stands on November 5th.

What do you think about all this? Let us know on Discord or X what your take is, and don’t forget you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and even YouTube.