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Scott Landry of Farmington and Anne Perry of Calais are members of the Maine House of Representatives. Tina Riley of Jay and Dave McCrea of Fort Fairfield are former members of the Maine House.
There’s an old saying that political candidates sometimes use: “Don’t compare me to the almighty. Compare me to the alternative.” Another old maxim is that “The only way to vote for someone you agree with all the time is to run for office yourself.”
We urge our fellow Democrats to remember that wisdom when it’s time to vote in this year’s elections.
Three of us are Democrats who served with U.S. Rep. Jared Golden when he was in the Maine Legislature. All of us support him for Congress.
Here is the reality: With Roe v. Wade gone, American women’s reproductive freedom is on the ballot this year. Republicans in Congress and Donald Trump are a threat to our rights. And as House Speaker Mike Johnson said recently in Auburn, the majority in the House may well come down to whomever we elect in the 2nd Congressional District.
Golden is a co-sponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would restore the protections of Roe v. Wade nationwide. He voted for the Ensuring Access to Abortion Act, which would make it illegal for any state to interfere with a person’s ability to access out-of-state abortion care. He also co-sponsored the Right to Contraception Act.
Meanwhile his opponent, Austin Theriault, said in a candidate questionnaire that abortion rights should be restricted and that people on Medicaid or Medicare shouldn’t have abortion care covered. His backers in Congress, including Johnson, have put their support behind a nationwide abortion ban.
All of this is why we support Golden and have been shocked by some liberals who have suggested that Democrats in Maine should abandon Golden this year, either to leave the ballot blank or cast a pointless write-in vote, or have otherwise worked to undermine the election of the only pro-choice candidate in this race.
We worry what the national picture will look like if Maine’s 2nd District sends a MAGA Republican to Washington, D.C. instead of Golden.
We are proud of the work Maine’s elected officials have done to protect women’s reproductive freedom in Maine. And we have an important role in protecting the rights of all Americans, no matter which state they live in.
While we may feel safe from the harmful, extreme agenda of Theriault and his backers in the right wing of the GOP, what about the countless others who would lose their rights if Speaker Mike Johnson and his fellow extremists successfully pass a national abortion ban?
Golden may well be the deciding vote in whether Republican Johnson or Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries holds the speaker’s gavel in 2025. Golden has voted for Jeffries to be speaker numerous times. We have every confidence he will vote for him again.
Twenty-five million women live in states that have already banned abortion. If Golden’s detractors in our own party have their way, how many more could lose their rights?
Mainers are proud of our community spirit, our independence, and our long record of using the tools of democracy to protect freedom and improve people’s lives.
We support unions because they bring democracy to the workplace. Golden is a labor Democrat who has marched on the picket line and received the endorsement of the Maine AFL-CIO in every one of his congressional elections so far.
We voted to create public campaign financing and ban foreign spending in our elections — both of which Golden supported, and he continues to fight corruption and money in politics in Congress.
We voted to increase our minimum wage and expand Medicaid, when many politicians opposed both. Golden supported both efforts, and has voted to increase the federal minimum wage and has a record of support for Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security.
And we elected majorities in the State House who have time and again enshrined reproductive freedoms in Maine law. Golden is a champion for those freedoms, not just for Mainers but for all Americans.
It’s fair to criticize any elected official. None of us are beyond reproach. But there are real stakes in this election, and we would urge Golden’s critics to remember those stakes when they cast their ballots.
