Jared Golden grew up on a golf course, but not the kind where business executives’ costly clubs cut high-stakes deals as they traipse from hole to hole.

The family-owned course so familiar to him, Springbook Golf Club in Leeds, is a casual, friendly place with a working-class vibe — the sort of place where every member of the family worked constantly to keep the grass cut and the weeds at bay.

Now a 42-year-old, three-term member of Congress with a wife and two daughters of his own, the Lewiston Democrat still has something of that outsider’s perspective. He always seems slightly uncomfortable in a room full of suits and happiest chatting with a couple of union guys.

After graduation from Leavitt Area High School, Golden headed to the University of Maine at Farmington, hoping to become a history teacher. But he didn’t really like college and, as he said years later, he felt like he was wasting his parents’ money.

As a result, in the fall of 2002, he joined the Marine Corps. He didn’t tell his parents until just before heading off to boot camp.

“Why would you do that?” his father, Joe Golden, asked.

U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-2nd District, takes the stage at Auburn Manufacturing Inc. last July, when President Biden visited to sign an executive order to promote American manufacturing. Golden, a three-term congressman, is in one of the most closely watched reelection campaigns. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal file

The young man answered, as if it was obvious, that he wanted to serve his country and do his part in cracking down on the people responsible for the slaughter a year earlier on 9/11.

Golden wound up in the thick of it, serving on combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Perhaps his most frightening moment came in 2004, when the 22-year-old Golden sat in a 5-ton truck with fellow Marines on the day of Afghanistan’s first presidential election, an event that had eager Afghans lining up to vote.

Golden said his unit got hit by a roadside bomb. What was it like? “Loud. Fast. Smoke everywhere. Ears ring a little bit.”

He emerged without a scratch.

But his service took a toll. When he returned to Maine, he struggled and was eventually diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Golden worked several low-wage jobs as he tried to figure out what to do next, including a part-time position at George’s Pizza in Auburn. That’s where he met the admissions director at Bates College, who was impressed with his story, his character and his intelligence.

Golden wound up as a student at Bates. Always a quiet presence, older than his classmates, Golden graduated in 2011 with a history degree.

One summer, he went back to Afghanistan as a civilian to work helping Afghan teens.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins hired him to work for a year on Capitol Hill, where he learned she was a tough taskmaster with keen interest in policy details. He admired that.

In 2014, he was elected to the Maine House as a delegate from Lewiston and rose quickly to become the third-ranking Democratic in its leadership before opting out to run for Congress in 2018 against a two-term GOP incumbent, Bruce Poliquin.

Golden won a close race, the first-ever ranked-choice election for a congressional seat, and soon established himself in Washington as a Democrat that party leaders could not rely on to back their programs and policies.

His reputation as a bipartisan-minded member of the House probably helped him retain the seat in two subsequent elections. He is now co-chair of the Blue Dog Coalition — Democrats who sometimes side with Republicans.

Golden and his wife, Izzy, have two daughters, 3-year-old Rosemary and Shirley, born in March. Izzy, a former Lewiston city councilor, is an attorney for a Portland firm.

Golden has assets worth at least $64,000, according to his financial disclosure form filed with the U.S. House.

He owes at least $15,000 on a student loan, down from at least $50,000 in 2018, and holds a mortgage on his Lewiston home totaling at least $250,000.

His only job is serving in the U.S. House, which pays $174,000 annually, the same as it has been since 2009. His wife’s income is not disclosed.