He worked as a film scriptwriter before moving to Maine with his wife, Carlotta Florsheim, to raise their family.

In 1976, Rolde ran in a seven-candidate primary for the 1976 Democratic nomination for the United States House of Representatives, where he gained 18 percent of the vote and finished third.

In 1990, Rolde won the Democratic Party's nomination but lost to the incumbent Republican Senator Bill Cohen.

[4][5][6] He was very involved in his York community, remained politically active, and continued to serve as chairman of the board of the Save our Shipyard nonprofit that twice successfully fought the potential cuts to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard proposed by the BRAC federal commission.

The history and challenges of Maine's Native Americans has been a reoccurring theme since Rolde's childhood, and he helped the tribes while in the Curtis administration.