New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill on Aug. 6 endorsed Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) in his Democratic primary challenge to long-serving Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), part of the first slate of endorsements from Sherrill’s federal political action committee.
Mission to Deliver PAC named 13 Democratic candidates with military or national security backgrounds, and Moulton is the only Senate candidate on the list.
Sherrill, a Naval Academy graduate and former Navy helicopter pilot, served in the House from 2019 until she was elected governor last year.
“When I first decided to run for Congress, Seth was in my corner. He didn’t care about party establishment games—he cared about helping to elect leaders who put people first,” Sherrill said in a statement released by Moulton’s campaign. “Seth has the backbone to take the fight to Donald Trump and win, and I am proud to back him for the United States Senate.”
Moulton’s campaign said Sherrill was among the earliest national supporters of his 2018 congressional bid through Serve America, an organization Moulton founded to recruit candidates with a service background. Also, Moulton campaigned for Sherrill in New Jersey last fall.
“Delivering real, progressive change for working families takes more than sitting back in safe seats; it takes building the majorities needed to actually pass laws,” Moulton said in a statement.
The endorsement comes four weeks before the Sept. 1 primary in a race that has centered on Markey’s age and length of service. First elected to the House in 1976 and to the Senate in 2013, Markey will be 80 by Election Day. Moulton, 47, a Marine veteran who served four tours in Iraq, has argued that the party needs generational turnover.
Markey holds most of the state’s Democratic establishment support. His endorsement list includes Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.); six of Massachusetts’s nine U.S. House members, among them Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.); state Attorney General Andrea Campbell; state Senate President Karen Spilka; state House Speaker Ron Mariano; and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu (Markey campaign).
At the state Democratic convention on May 30, Markey won roughly 73 percent of delegate support to Moulton’s 27 percent. Moulton cleared the 15 percent threshold party rules require to appear on the primary ballot.
In addition to the backing of 33 current and former officials in the state, Moulton’s campaign said last week it had picked up endorsements from Reps. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.), Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), Derek Tran (D-Calif.), and Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), all of whom the campaign identifies as Serve America alumni.
Moulton’s campaign biography centers on his four tours as a Marine in Iraq, his 2014 primary win over a nine-term incumbent, and his role creating the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. His campaign’s policy platform lists an affordability agenda, abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, election integrity, housing, health care, gun violence prevention, and high-speed rail.
Markey’s campaign biography centers on his blue-collar upbringing in Malden, his election to the U.S. House in 1976, and his introduction of the Green New Deal with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2019. His campaign’s issues page lists five plans covering education and jobs, health care, climate and transportation, immigrant and LGBT rights, and gun laws.
The Markey campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Sherrill’s endorsement from The Epoch Times.
