Retiring Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) is throwing his weight behind Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), a rare show of bipartisan support between sitting lawmakers.
Golden, who has increasingly bucked his party in recent weeks, wrote in an op-ed Monday that he “strongly” backs Lawler, who cosponsored his bill supporting Maine lobstermen, which passed in the House earlier this month.
“Mike Lawler has been a true partner to me and a friend to fishing families he will never represent,” Golden wrote in the op-ed published by the local newspaper Lohud. “I strongly back him, and I hope voters send him back to work.”
Golden has represented a red-leaning seat since 2018, while Lawler is running for his third term in a battleground New York seat that former Vice President Kamala Harris won in 2024.
The outgoing Maine Democrat’s endorsement of Lawler, who faces Cait Conley, an Army veteran, in the general election, marks the third time he has gone against the Democratic Party this month.
Golden, alongside fellow centrist Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), defected on two procedural votes typically seen as tests of party unity, bailing out Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to advance several pieces of legislation to the House floor.
Both Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez defended their votes, claiming the first defection from the pair had to do with getting Golden’s Maine lobstermen measure to the floor, while the second had to do with their support for a Russia and Iran sanctions bill.
In his op-ed, Golden commended Lawler for his support of the lobstermen bill, writing that Lawler has “not a single lobster boat in his district,” and “got no votes in this and no headlines back home.”
“He signed on because a historic American industry, thousands of fishing families, and the principle that federal rules should be built on facts were all on the line,” Golden wrote. “And he understands that in every community, not just in Maine, mom-and-pop shops have been around for generations, and their livelihoods make up the very foundation of our communities.”
Lawler thanked Golden for his support in a statement posted online, saying that “Jared is a servant leader, who has fought tirelessly for his district.”
“Time and again when we needed bipartisan compromise, Jared was always there ready to deliver,” Lawler wrote. “I’m honored to have earned his support.”
Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez’s votes helping Republicans advance legislation to the floor this month rankled members of the House Democratic caucus, with some members calling for the duo to face punishments for doing so.
There has been no public punishment for Golden or Gluesenkamp Perez yet, with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) telling reporters on Thursday that Democratic leadership will have more to say “about the situation when we have more to say about the situation.”
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Golden told the Washington Examiner last week that his “No. 1 job is to do right by my constituency as best as I can see,” listing his priorities as his state, then country, before “this team that I’m a part of that is the Democratic Party.”
“But you know I got my head straight about the orders as I just laid it out, right?” Golden said. “Constituents, state, country.”