From the potato fields of Aroostook County to the paper mill in Rumford, Maine’s 2nd Congressional District is the largest east of the Mississippi River and one of the most rural areas in the country, where isolation and independence go hand-in-hand.

Since knocking out an incumbent in 2018, Rep. Jared Golden has served as the sprawling district’s voice on Capitol Hill, where he earned a reputation as the least loyal House Democrat and, for better or worse, a guy willing to blaze his own path.

But Golden, who has young children at home in Lewiston, decided that his congressional duties weren’t worth the price of frequent absences. That Congress rarely does anything at all must have made it an easy choice for him to opt out after this year.

Now voters in the district are going to pick a new representative to take office in January 2027, with oddsmakers figuring that since Donald Trump has always triumphed in the district, they’ll probably pick a Republican.

I’m not so sure.

Nobody doubts there is considerable affection in the nearly all-white district for blustery former Gov. Paul LePage, the Republican seeking to become the second-oldest newcomer to win a U.S. House seat.

Since LePage grew up in Lewiston, served as mayor in Waterville and notched two high-profile terms as Maine’s governor following his election in 2010, he’s about as well known as a candidate can be.

Thankfully, Democrats aren’t slinking away from the challenge. They hope that growing unhappiness with Trump creates an Election Day trend that leads to LePage heading back to his Florida retirement home instead of searching for an apartment in the nation’s capital.

There are three Democratic contenders with a real chance for victory: state Sen. Joe Baldacci of Bangor, State Auditor Matt Dunlap and Jordan Wood, a former Capitol Hill aide who’s shown fundraising finesse.

The guy who wins the June primary will be the guy who can best capture the district’s vigor and its yearning for the respect its people deserve. The winner also, of course, has to come up with the cash required to get his message out.

I have no idea who will emerge from the primary, but I am sure that LePage won’t face an easy contest in November’s general election.

Since Lewiston’s Daniel McGillicuddy became the first Democrat to win the district in 1910, it’s gone back and forth regularly between the parties, with the GOP holding it for the longest single stretch between 1972 and 1994 — when powerhouses Bill Cohen and Olympia Snowe held the seat.

The Maine that tourists think about is full of lighthouses and sailboats. That’s just a tiny part of life in the 2nd District, which includes Down East and Acadia National Park, but is mostly made up of the many small towns west and north of the Maine Turnpike.

Artist Charlie Hewitt once described it to me as a place “full of life and power and goodwill and authenticity,” an overlooked region that relies on cars, trucks and a work ethic spurred by the need to survive in what can be a brutal environment.

In Hewitt’s view, which has merit, we must incorporate the often-overlooked 2nd district’s “creativity and energy” in order for Maine to become stronger, better connected and more prosperous.

The right representative will help make that happen.