Two Maine lawmakers are among a bipartisan trio of politicians seeking reelection and singled out for campaign cash by U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who recently left the Democratic Party to become the Senate’s third independent.

Manchin said this week that Country Roads PAC, which he controls, will give $5,000 apiece to U.S. Sen. Angus King and U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, both from Maine, along with U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican.

“All three always put country over party,” Manchin wrote in a column this week for CNN.

The money is a drop in the bucket in today’s costly campaigns, but the statement it makes may resonate among corporate and political leaders who are searching for ways to restore a more centrist, compromise-minded Congress.

Manchin has a record of endorsing candidates from both sides of the political aisle. He backed U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, during her hotly contested 2020 reelection campaign.

This week, he wrote that King, who caucuses with the Democrats but is unaffiliated, “has been an independent voice in the Senate and helped pass significant bipartisan legislation, such as the Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act that helped small businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic and the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act that helps Americans impacted by the opioid crisis.”

Manchin wrote that Golden “has stood up to extremist voices in both parties, is a leader of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition and has secured historic legislative victories, such as helping secure votes for the infrastructure bill.”

Golden faces Republican Austin Theriault of Fort Kent in the Nov. 5 general election. Theriault, whom former President Donald Trump endorsed, won a primary this month to capture the GOP’s backing to take on the three-term Democrat from Lewiston.

Three people are hoping to unseat King, who first won a Senate seat in 2012: Republican Demi Kouzounas, a former state party chairman; David Costello, a Brunswick Democrat; and Jason Cherry of Unity, an independent.

Manchin, 76, is not seeking reelection in November, but isn’t stepping back from politics.

Manchin wrote that his new initiative aims to “support Democrats, Republicans and independents at all levels of government who are committed to working across the aisle to get stuff done, such as protecting the filibuster in the Senate, opposing efforts to undermine our democracy, publicly breaking with the party establishment, putting country before party and doing the right thing for America.”

Jon Kott, who will run the new PAC for Manchin, told Punchbowl that the senator “will look for candidates who walk away from the party purity tests and do the difficult work required to revive bipartisanship and represent the millions of Americans who feel left behind.”

“This will send an important message to voters, donors and companies that we all can and should do our part to change the political system and reward leaders who want to do the hard work and work together,” Kott said.

Country Roads PAC has more than $1 million in its coffers while Manchin’s campaign treasury has more than $8 million left.

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