Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) endorsed GOP Rep. Mike Lawler in his reelection campaign in suburban New York, Golden wrote in an opinion article published Monday.
Lawler is facing a tough reelection campaign against Democrat Cait Conley in one of the biggest House battlegrounds this November. The lawmakers have previously collaborated to advance the Northeast Lobsterman Protection Act, and are both members of the centrist Problem Solvers Caucus.
Golden, who is not running for reelection, was one of two House Democrats to break with the party and twice vote in favor of the Republican legislative agenda earlier in September. He and Rep. Marie Glusenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) were the deciding votes in pushing through a pair of key procedural votes in a closely divided chamber. The GOP-led bills included a resolution condemning socialism that Republicans want to use against Democrats on the campaign trail.
House Democrats have since pressured Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) to punish the defectors.
“Mike Lawler has been a true partner to me and a friend to fishing families he will never represent,” Golden wrote. “I strongly back him, and I hope voters send him back to work. Wherever you live, find the members who pass laws with the other party, and keep them.”
Gluesenkamp Perez is running for reelection in a red-leaning district.
The Lobsterman Protection Act passed in the House with bipartisan support in September. The bill would delay the implementation date for regulations meant to protect the endangered North Atlantic whale. The current rule is too onerous, Maine’s fishing industry and its advocates have argued.
Lawler represents a suburban New York district that is unimpacted by the regulations, but Golden praised the New Yorker for working alongside him to help the fishing community.
“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 said.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Conley and Jeffries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“While we are from different parties and different states, Jared and I have worked during our time together in the House to find common ground on issues that matter both to us and our constituents,” Lawler wrote in a statement.
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