AUBURN — Republicans are creating what they call “battle station” offices in swing districts across the country to help them maintain control of the U.S. House of Representatives, including a new one slated to open Thursday at the Auburn Mall.

A ceremony is planned at the Auburn storefront next Wednesday featuring U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican who has held the position since last October.

Johnson is coming specifically to tout the GOP’s 30-year-old contender in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, Austin Theriault of Fort Kent.

“We need to give Speaker Johnson a big Maine welcome,” Theriault’s campaign said in an email to supporters asking them to show up for the event.

Republicans plan to open a “battle station” office at the Auburn Mall on Thursday. They plan a rally there next week with U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana coming to tout the party’s congressional candidate. Steve Collins/Sun Journal

Theriault is angling to unseat three-term Democrat Jared Golden, a Lewiston Democrat who won the district by knocking out a Republican incumbent in 2018.

Republicans are pouring millions of dollars into their national effort to beef up “battle station” offices in dozens of swing districts, some of them currently held by the GOP and others by potentially vulnerable Democrats like Golden.

The new Republican office in the mall looked nearly ready to go on Wednesday, with signs on the windows for the party’s presidential nominee, Donald Trump, and a smattering of other signs for Theriault. Inside are long tables and chairs meant for volunteers to make phone calls, send cards and otherwise carry out campaign activities to help put Trump and Theriault over the top.

Theriault, a first-term state representative with little political experience, has strong backing from Trump, Johnson and other GOP leaders who would like to see a Republican occupy Golden’s seat.

Johnson is scheduled to appear at the Auburn Mall office at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday for about an hour. Theriault’s campaign is rounding up RSVPs from supporters, but the event is free and anyone can attend.

The office is next door to Super Shoes and across from Books-A-Million at the opposite end of the mall from JCPenney.

Both parties are pouring millions of dollars into the race between Theriault and Golden, who is the House Democrat most likely to buck his party’s leadership, voting records show.

The sprawling 2nd District has twice voted for Trump in presidential elections, which is the chief reason that many political rating sites say the contest is wide open. Golden, though, has outperformed Trump in the district, including an easy reelection victory in 2020 when Trump was on the ballot against Democrat Joe Biden.