In today’s newsletter:
Two Democratic lawmakers broke with their party to advance a set of four bills Tuesday night, including Democratic Rep. Jared Golden’s legislation to help his state’s lobster industry and a separate resolution on socialism.
House leadership did not ask Golden if he planned to vote on the rule to advance the bills, including his own legislation, Golden told Out of State.
The controversy that ensued is a sign of Democrats’ detachment from what Americans truly care about, Golden said.
If the pause was not approved, entire fishing towns in Maine could collapse, Golden explained — saying he would vote with putting food on his kids’ table above other concerns.
THE VIEW FROM HERE
The rural Dems are at it again: Maine Rep. Jared Golden and Washington Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez broke with their Democratic colleagues tonight to advance four pieces of legislation to the U.S. House floor, earning instant backlash and threats of “a serious response” from Democratic leadership because the vote allowed Republicans to force a floor vote on a resolution condemning socialism. The resolution, some fear, could be used to attack Democrats just a few weeks before the first states begin early voting in the 2026 midterms.
At the same time, the rule included a bill proposed by Golden that would help lobstermen — an important rural, working-class constituency in his district.
Two hours after the vote, I got on the phone with Golden to talk about why he chose to vote for the rule instead of staving off the vote on socialism, why other members of the working-class Democratic Blue Dog caucus were willing to stand with him, and why Democrats should be more focused on legislation to help working-class Americans than fretting over a vote on socialism.
“I literally had fishermen telling me that they were contemplating suicide,” Golden told Out of State about his conversations with the lobster industry in his state when the new regulations were proposed. He also added: “I’ve got kids, so if I had to choose between putting food on the table and something else, shame on me if I can’t answer that question rather easily.”
Quick TLDR on the bill, so you have the context: Golden’s Northeast Lobstermen Protection Act would extend a pause on regulations placed on the lobster industry to protect right whales, which are an endangered species. The pause, Golden says, allows more research to see if there’s a technological solution to protect whales while allowing the lobster industry to flourish. Extending the pause was a major priority for Golden before he leaves office at the end of this year, and he said that Glusenkamp Perez — a fellow Blue Dog and close ally — voted with him to ensure the legislation would get a floor vote.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Democrats are angry that Republicans now can force a vote condemning socialism. There are accusations that you’re just helping Republicans attack Democrats. What do you say to that?
I think those people are living in a bubble of partisanship and are totally detached from reality on the street, and it’s nuts.
No matter how many votes I’ve taken saying “I am not a self-proclaimed socialist,” they still run the attack ads. There have been countless ads photoshopping me into the midst of “The Squad.”
I just don’t fear that attack, and I also don’t consider myself a socialist either. I think I’ve established enough of a relationship with my constituents that they see through all that.
Through things like talking to the lobstermen and writing a bill for them.
Yeah. [laughs]
So is this Democrats focused on the wrong problem?
They should just be talking about the good work that they’re doing for their constituents.
Leadership is also angry that you didn’t give them a heads-up. Did anybody ask you if you were going to vote against your own bill?
No, [laughs] because they knew the answer.
Then why do you think they’re mad, if they knew the answer?
They want people to always vote yes or no on procedural votes, even if it were like cutting off their own nose to spite their face.
You had others ready to vote with you if needed. You only needed MGP in the end. But how did you convince other folks?
That’s the Blue Dog way.
We believe in localism and being rooted in the place that you live in and represent. We’re Democrats, but we have a strong loyalty to the people that we represent.
Sometimes Blue Dogs are gonna band together and support each other over a local issue, knowing that a time is going to come when you’re going to need that same level of support from your fellow Blue Dogs.
For people who aren’t from Maine and don’t understand what’s going on with lobstermen — Why did you want this bill to pass?
When I first got into Congress, lobstermen were terrified at the scale of these proposed new regulations [to protect whales].
It was unworkable to the point where there would be hard discussions in communities about which families get to keep fishing and which had to give it up. This is generational — it goes back so far in some families that they’ve been fishing since before this country was a country, in these waters.
I would liken the outcome of a failed fishery to a mill closure. The town is decimated. No property tax base, schools closed, everyone moves away - it’s just devastating. I literally had fishermen telling me that they were contemplating suicide.
In December of 2022, we successfully got a six-year pause on these new regulations. We asked for 10 years, but we only got six. We also put money in to help the government increase their ability to track these whales, to help inform better regulations that might actually be workable for the fishing industry.
And now they’ve been telling us, “We actually don’t have enough time to take this new data and inform the management decision, so we need more time.”
So a bill to push this implementation further passed the House tonight. If it doesn’t pass the Senate, what is the economic impact on your district?
It’s 18,000 jobs in Maine. But more importantly, the communities that depend on fishermen for the economic viability of that town would just be absolutely devastated.
The town manager in Stonington, Maine, which is the biggest [lobster fishing] port, told us that when these new regulations get proposed periodically, she’ll get calls from investor groups in New York City, offering to help them attract investments to buy up property and turn their working waterfront into vacation land.
Would the folks who live there still be able to afford it if it turns into a vacation town?
They’d be priced out.
I’ve been writing about how Democrats are trying to win back rural districts. The blowback that you got for voting for the rule on this bill — is that a microcosm of this bigger conversation that Democrats are having right now about rural Americans and how to actually get them to come back to the Democratic Party?
In an era of ever-heightening partisanship and disillusionment, I think people would be shocked if I introduced a bill to help my core constituency, and then voted against a rule that would have advanced that bill.
They would scratch their heads and look at it and say like, well, that’s just a bitter betrayal.
It is a nonsensical conversation to have with people. “Well, I wanted to help you, but party leadership wouldn’t let me vote for the rule.” Like that just doesn’t fly in real life.
For folks who don’t understand how Congress works, if you had not voted for the rule, what would have happened to the bill?
The bill never would have had even a chance to have a vote.
I know who I work for. I work for the people that I represent, whether they voted for me or not. If I had to warrant a guess, a fair number of fishermen don’t vote for me. But that’s okay.
Thinking about rural communities… Democrats are talking a lot about paying homage to working-class people and winning back working-class voters of all stripes, and this is what they’re looking for.
I have great empathy for right whales. I want to see them survive. But given the reality of what’s going on here, that most of their deaths have nothing to do with Maine lobstermen, if it’s a choice between Maine fishing communities and the right whales, I, as a representative for Maine’s 2nd District, I’m going with the fishermen and the families and the communities that they live in.
As you can see, I’m struggling to even put into words why that is a necessary conversation to have.
What would your district think if you’d voted with Democrats tonight instead of voting with lobstermen?
They’d say that I let them down, that I turned my back on them when it mattered.
And how would that affect other Democrats running in your district?
It would hurt them.
I just obviously didn’t think about it that way.
That’s totally fair. But it is also part of the conversation Democrats are having right now, saying, “We should get working-class voters back,” and asking, “How do we do that?”
We adjust our thinking about certain things and certain trade-offs, instead of asking [voters] to change their thinking. Because in some instances, the consequences for them are great — like losing their ability to provide for their family.
I’ve got kids, so if I had to choose between putting food on the table and something else, shame on me if I can’t answer that question rather easily.
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A request for comment sent to House Minority Whip Katherine Clark’s office was not immediately returned, and Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez declined to comment.
Fuck Jared Golden, collaborator with fascists.
Jared Golden is like Sinema and Manchin. A wolf in sheep clothing.