Rep. Golden says he has his own reasons for voting against McCarthy

Ahead of Tuesday’s U.S. House of Representatives votes on the pending motion to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Democratic leadership signaled that Democrats would not bail out the California Republican.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote on X, “They must find a way to end the House Republican Civil War.”

U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, however, went to lengths to explain that the reasons he was voting against the speaker have nothing to do with partisanship, but rather McCarthy’s position as a member of the “political establishment.”

Golden, who heads the centrist Blue Dog Coalition, is seen as somewhat of a political maverick, often taking votes that buck the Democratic caucus. He has also held Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, which voted for former President Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020, since 2018.

In a lengthy statement, Golden highlighted his prior vote against Democratic former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying that “leaders of the political establishment in Washington have not just ignored communities like the ones I represent, but have also pushed policies that were actively harmful to them.”

As evidence, Golden pointed to McCarthy’s support for large North American trade agreements, as well as right whale regulations; his opposition to the bipartisan infrastructure law and a cap on prescription drug costs; and his failure to bring bills on congressional term limits and a ban on stock trading by members of Congress to the floor.

He notably did not mention McCarthy’s support of Trump.

“Kevin McCarthy has been in Congress for 17 years. He does not offer new leadership,” Golden wrote. “He offers the same type of leadership that Maine has come to expect from much of the national political establishment of both parties.” 

“The GOP has control of the House and it is their responsibility to pick their leaders. That decision has nothing to do with me or with any Democrat,” Golden added. “But in the interest of answering inquiries to my office about whether or not I would support Kevin McCarthy: he’s not the leader I would choose — he doesn’t have the pulse of the people of Maine’s Second District.”