Democrats are fuming at outgoing Rep. Jared Golden of Maine after he deepened the rift between himself and his party by endorsing a swing-district House Republican.
In an op-ed published Monday, Golden endorsed Rep. Mike Lawler (R-New York) for reelection, calling him one of the most bipartisan members of Congress. It’s bad news for Democratic candidate Cait Conley, who is heavily backed by House Democrats’ campaign arm.
Some Democrats were swift to condemn the choice.
“Doesn’t sound like a Democrat to me. And his voting record doesn’t show he’s a Democrat either,” said one House Democrat who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. Golden often votes with Republicans.
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Another said Golden was undercutting Conley.
“It’s a winnable seat that he’s helping to make more difficult,” the second House Democrat told The Washington Sun. “Also what is he doing to help us elsewhere?”
A third House Democrat simply texted The Sun: “👹.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries released a statement dismissive of Lawler, the endorsement and Golden, but did not say Golden would face any sort of punishment. A spokesperson also did not say whether the Maine congressman would face any consequences for breaking with the party.
“Mike Lawler is a partisan hack and Trump sycophant who Cait Conley will defeat in November. In desperation, he is peddling an 11th hour endorsement from a retiring Congressmember who represents an out of town district more than 400 miles away,” Jeffries said. “This smoke and mirrors ploy will do nothing to change the outcome of the race. The election will be decided by the people of Westchester and the lower Hudson Valley.”
Lawler’s seat is one of the most coveted by Democrats as they look to regain the majority in November. Golden is already on thin ice with the Democratic Party: In September alone, he helped advance two procedural votes with Republicans along with Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Washington). Golden is retiring, but Gluesenkamp Perez is still running for reelection.
Some House Democrats have even called on their leadership to reprimand the two centrist Democrats, including potentially removing Gluesenkamp Perez from the House Appropriations Committee next Congress.
Golden focused his endorsements on the work he’s done with the New Yorker, including the votes that angered his caucus.
“In July, our bill passed the House Natural Resources Committee with votes from both parties. And it just passed on the House floor with bipartisan support. That is how Congress is supposed to work: members of different parties set aside their disagreements, find a problem that matters to the country and fix it,” Golden wrote, referring to his and Lawler’s Northeast Lobstermen Protection Act, which passed after Golden and Perez joined the GOP to rescue a foundering procedural vote.
Golden said that “it was not a one-off. Twice more in the past two years, when something needed doing and party lines stood in the way, I found Lawler across the aisle.” Lawler was one of a handful of Republicans who helped Democrats rebuke President Donald Trump over labor rights and advance a bill to extend Affordable Care Act credits.
A fourth House Democrat said they didn’t disapprove of Golden’s move because “I don’t think Lawler’s beatable.”
“For the millions we will spend on Conley, we could dump into many less expensive markets and have a bigger bank for buck,” the lawmaker said.
The lawmaker said they texted Golden as soon as they read the op-ed: “I wish we’d spend money against people who 1) can lose and 2) would never cross the aisle” to help Democrats.
Another sympathetic member of the caucus texted to say Golden “hasn’t been treated well by leadership,” he’s leaving anyway, so why should he care?, and “Maine will like his independence.”
In a statement, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Executive Director Julie Merz did not address Golden directly. “While Mike Lawler has dedicated his career to befriending DC reporters, partisan politics and voting with Trump 100% of the time, Army combat veteran Cait Conley has dedicated hers to serving our country with honor,” Merz said. “Mike Lawler is going to lose because Hudson Valley voters want lower costs and are ready for a check on the out-of-control Trump Administration.”
Conley did not respond to a request for comment.
This story has been updated to add later comments from the DCCC and Jeffries.
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