AUGUSTA — A prominent Democrat hoping to fight for one of the nation’s most closely contested congressional seats is taking heat over a more than two-decade-old antiabortion vote.

State auditor Matt Dunlap said Monday that a vote he took in the Maine Legislature in favor of a bill restricting abortion access doesn’t represent his stance on the issue today. He pledged to “always fight for reproductive freedom” as he campaigns for Congress.

Dunlap, who’s hoping to replace Democratic Rep. Jared Golden in the 2nd District, appeared at a campaign event geared toward women at the University of Maine at Augusta in which he also talked about access to child care and the cost of living.

He was asked by reporters about LD 798, a bill that came up in 2003 that would have required physicians to provide notice to women at least 24 hours before a scheduled abortion about the risks and alternatives to the procedure. Dunlap voted in support of the bill, which didn’t pass.

“If you look at the entire broad spectrum of my votes, I’m almost entirely pro-choice,” Dunlap said Monday. “That was one vote 22 years ago that came out in some opposition research. It’s a good lesson for folks that your votes are always part of the permanent record, but I was not a pro-life member at all.”

The race to represent Maine’s 2nd District was expected to be one of the most closely watched and competitive U.S. House races in the country when former two-term Republican Gov. Paul LePage announced in May that he would challenge Golden, a four-term incumbent whose positions as a moderate Democrat kept him winning reelection in a district that also voted three times for President Donald Trump.

After Golden announced last month that he wouldn’t seek reelection, some political observers revised their analysis of the race in favor of LePage and Republicans, though Democrats remain confident in their chances. In addition to Dunlap, former congressional staffer and U.S. Senate candidate Jordan Wood is also seeking the Democratic nomination.

Dunlap is perhaps the most prominent Democrat in the Congressional race. But if he wants to secure the seat, he’ll have to fend off challengers from his party while appealing to moderate Republicans and independents in the conservative-leaning district.

Seemingly unsatisfied with Dunlap, national Democrats have said they are still recruiting candidates.

Abortion rights became a major issue for Democrats following the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court. However, the party has recently shifted its focus to the economy and affordability after losing the 2024 presidential election.

Dunlap, who represented Old Town in the Maine House from 1996 to 2004, said LD 798 was an exception in his record and “every other vote I took was pro-choice.”

He said he was approached about the bill by a constituent who supported it and “felt compelled to show them some respect,” particularly since he said it appeared the bill was not likely to succeed.

“I’ll always fight to protect reproductive freedom,” he said Monday.

Dunlap said he agrees with Wood, his main Democratic challenger, who supports codifying Roe v. Wade into federal law and restoring abortion rights nationwide. Wood, who has not held elected office before, said Monday he is “100% pro-choice” and criticized Dunlap’s vote.

“I can promise every voter that no matter how many people call my office to ask me to vote against the right to abortion, I would not do it,” Wood said.

Dunlap earned a 100% rating from the Maine Right to Life Committee the year he voted on LD 798, according to Vote Smart, a nonprofit that collects data on candidate positions. However, it’s unclear what that rating was based on.

The same antiabortion group that gave him a 100% rating in 2003 rated him 0% in 2002, according to Vote Smart. Dunlap also got an 83% rating from Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund the year he took the antiabortion vote.

Representatives from Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund said Monday that they were not able to provide any immediate information on the rating listed by Vote Smart. The Maine Right to Life Committee also said it did not have records from 2003 to know what might have informed the Vote Smart rating.

“I am a little surprised he got 100% and not sure what that reflects,” Maine Right to Life Executive Director Mike McClellan said in an email.

McClellan, a Republican lawmaker from 2010 to 2015, said it was a “different time” when Dunlap was in office. “In Matt’s term, liberals were still allowed to be on the side of life,” he said.

LePage has said in the past that he is “pro-life” and that abortion laws should be decided at the state, not federal, level. In 2022 he said during his campaign for governor that he had no plans to change Maine abortion law. The law, which has since been expanded, allowed at the time for abortions until viability and, after that, only if the mother’s life or health was at risk.

In 2023, Gov. Janet Mills signed legislation to expand access to post-viability abortions, allowing them whenever a licensed doctor deems it necessary instead of requiring the health or life of the mother to be at risk.