A three-term Republican state lawmaker from Oakland is taking aim at Maine’s 2nd District congressional seat that’s been held by Democrat Jared Golden since 2018.

Michael Perkins, a patrol deputy for the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department, filed paperwork last week with the Federal Elections Commission indicating his intention to challenge Golden next year.

State Rep. Michael Perkins Maine House Republicans

He is the only challenger in the race.

Republicans Peggy Sheriff and Michael Sutton, both of Bangor, entered the contest but later said they won’t run after all.

Golden, a Lewiston resident, won the sprawling district by defeating U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, an Oakland Republican, in one of the closest races in the country. Golden won re-election last year by a wider margin.

When he announced an exploratory committee on Facebook in April, Perkins said he thinks people in the district “deserve better representation in Washington.”

“I will bring my hard work ethic, law enforcement years and successful small business ownership experience to DC with an ‘one of us for us’ approach,” he said. “For too long politicians in Washington have forgotten where they came from.”

There has been considerable speculation that other contenders may emerge to take on Golden in 2022, including perhaps Poliquin or Dale Crafts, the Lisbon businessman who lost last year.

Perkins, 59, has lived with his wife in Oakland for more than two decades. He served as a police officer for the town before going to work for the Sheriff’s Department.

Perkins has been chairman of Oakland’s Town Council for a dozen years.

His legislative website says he also owns KMD Driving School in Oakland and drives a school bus for Regional School Unit  18.

Perkins, a 1980 graduate of Messalonskee High School, and his wife, Kelly, have two adult children.