Jeffries dismisses Jared Golden's endorsement of Mike Lawler, describes him as a 'partisan hack'

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries dismissed Tuesday fellow Democratic Rep. Jared Golden's unconventional endorsement of New York GOP Rep. Mike Lawler, claiming Lawler is a "partisan hack." 

Golden, a Maine Democrat, unexpectedly endorsed Lawler on Monday, touting him as a bipartisan leader who is facing a tough reelection campaign in one of the tightest races of the 2026 midterm elections. He is running for reelection in a district that former Vice President Kamala Harris carried in 2024.

Jeffries rejected Golden's claim that Lawler is a bipartisan leader, telling Fox News in a statement that the Republican has "never shown bipartisan courage when it matters."

"Mike Lawler is a partisan hack and Trump sycophant who Cait Conley will defeat in November," Jeffries insisted. "In desperation, he is peddling an 11th-hour endorsement from a retiring congressmember who represents an out-of-town district more than 400 miles away.

"This smoke-and-mirrors ploy will do nothing to change the outcome of the race," he continued. "The election will be decided by the people of Westchester and the lower Hudson Valley ... Mike Lawler can try to run from his extremist record. We will never let him hide."

Golden previously claimed that Lawler has been devoted to his constituents and emphasized his own history of having to work across the aisle because he represented people from both political parties.

"Lawler holds one of just three Republican seats in the country that Kamala Harris carried in 2024," Golden said. "Representing districts like ours forces you to work for people who disagree with you, and it teaches you that those people are not your enemies. They are your neighbors.

"I am leaving Congress in January by my own choice, but I have not given up on the institution, and voters should not either," he continued. "The Congress we get is the one we elect, and the country needs fewer members who treat the job as a stage and more who treat it as work. In New York's Hudson Valley this fall, that is the choice on the ballot."

Lawler, for his part, praised Golden for their work together while in Congress, adding that the pair "share a firm belief that what’s best for the people should come before one’s party, and that if more members on both sides of the aisle took that approach more often, the country would be better off for it."

In the narrowly divided House, a single seat could prove the difference between Republican and Democratic control. Golden's own district is typically viewed as a battleground district, though his retirement has analysts predicting a GOP pickup.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.