Jordan Wood, a Bristol Democrat in a hotly contested primary for U.S. Senate in Maine, announced Wednesday he is dropping out of that race to run for Congress in the 2nd District.

Wood, 36, was the first Democrat to gain traction in the race to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins for her seat next year after announcing his campaign in April, though in recent months he has been overshadowed by Gov. Janet Mills and Hancock County oysterman Graham Platner.

Wood said he made the decision after learning last week that U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-2nd District, would not be seeking reelection. He said the resources he has built in the Senate race could be better redirected to the open 2nd District race.

“We’ve built this tremendous campaign and we have thousands of volunteers and have received donations from over 3,000 people in Maine,” Wood said. “We’ve raised $3.5 million and I think that it’s important that that organization and effort can be put to use in winning CD2 and not a long drawn-out primary (in the Senate race).”

Golden announced last week that he would no longer be seeking reelection to a fifth term, citing increased polarization and rising threats of political violence. The surprise news has shaken up the 2nd District race, and given rise to speculation that additional Democrats might get in.

A centrist who made headlines last year after predicting Donald Trump would win the presidency and saying he would be “OK with that,” Golden was able to stave off past challengers in a district that has voted three times for Trump in 2016, 2020 and 2024.

But he was expected to face perhaps his most difficult challenge yet from former two-term Republican Gov. Paul LePage, who entered the race in May.

Golden was also facing his first primary challenge since being elected, from state auditor and former Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap, who was looking to tap into Democrats’ frustrations with some of Golden’s votes in alignment with Trump and Republicans.

Wood grew up in Lewiston and Gardiner. He founded democracyFIRST, a bipartisan pro-democracy organization, worked as a vice president of End Citizens United, and served as chief of staff to former Rep. Katie Porter, D-California, prior to launching his Senate bid in Maine.

While he currently lives in Bristol, in Maine’s 1st Congressional District, Wood said he and his family are looking for a house in Lewiston and will be relocating there.

In the Senate race, Wood had some early traction though his campaign has recently been overshadowed by those of Mills and Platner. An October poll from the University of New Hampshire Survey Center found Platner leading Mills 58% to 24%, though it was conducted around the time incendiary posts Platner made on Reddit were just coming to light, and prior to revelations that Platner had a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol that he has since had covered up.

Wood and other candidates were polling at 1% or less in the survey.

Wood said he sees overlap between the issues he campaigned on as a Senate candidate and those he will address in the 2nd District. “I think the focus of this campaign for Congress is going to be about the same issues that the Senate campaign was, which is the need for a new generation of leaders to step up that are going to deliver anti-corruption reform, democracy reform and that are going to deliver on big solutions to the affordability crisis,” he said.

Wood said he will be able to refile campaign finance paperwork as a House candidate and transfer his fundraising over to the new campaign. And he believes his supporters will back the change.

“The people who have invested in and supported our organization I think would understand the importance of having a contested challenge in CD2 and defeating Paul LePage,” Wood said.

Wood said he does not have any immediate plans to issue an endorsement in the Senate race, but said he will support whoever the Democratic nominee is in the general election. Dan Kleban, co-founder of the Maine Beer Co., dropped out of the race and endorsed Mills last month.