Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) issued an endorsement of Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), calling him a “true partner” and highlighting how Lawler had on several occasions crossed the aisle to support bipartisan efforts.
In an opinion article in Lohud, Golden, who announced in November 2025 that he would not seek reelection, spoke about how in Congress “incivility and plain nastiness” are common in politics. Golden also mentioned that Lawler had helped in leading the Northeast Lobstermen Protection Act, which would extend Congress’s six-year pause on new regulations on Maine’s lobster industry until 2035.
“When I announced last fall that I would not seek reelection, I wrote about the incivility and plain nastiness that are now common in our politics, and about a Congress that too often rewards ego and division over patience and determination,” Golden wrote in his op-ed. “I stand by all of it. But there is another side to the story, and before I leave office I want to tell it.”
In his op-ed, Golden shared how “for decades, federal regulators have piled rules onto Maine’s lobstermen in the name of protecting the North Atlantic right whale.”
Golden pointed out that Maine’s fishermen “did their part and then some,” however, in 2021, “the government issued a new round of restrictions built on worst-case assumptions instead of real data.”
“A federal appeals court unanimously vacated those restrictions,” Golden wrote. “Congress stepped in the next year with a six-year pause on new regulations and funding for better science. But the pause expires at the end of 2028, and the research it paid for still has not been fully worked into the government’s models.”
Golden went on to add that Lawler led his bill with him, noting that “there is not a single lobster boat” in Lawler’s district. Golden also shared that the bill “passed the House Natural Resources Committee” in July and that 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 added. “And 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. When the Trump Administration took away collective bargaining for federal employees, I introduced a bill restoring their rights. Lawler didn’t even take convincing.”
Golden went on to state that Lawler “has been a true partner” to him, as well as a “friend to fishing families he will never represent,” adding that he “strongly” backs him.
In a post on X, Lawler stated that he was “honored to have earned” Golden’s support, and described Golden as a “servant leader, who has fought tirelessly for his district.”
“Thank you to my friend and colleague @RepGolden for his endorsement,” Lawler wrote. “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. I’m honored to have earned his support.”
Read the full article here