O'Malley backs Fetterman for PA U.S. Senate seat
Martin O'Malley, former Maryland governor and presidential candidate, endorsed John Fetterman in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Monday.
John Fetterman got a boost in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Monday from Martin O'Malley, the former Maryland governor and candidate for the party's presidential nomination.
O'Malley sent an email to his national list of supporters urging them to help Fetterman, citing their shared commitment to immigration reform that would allow a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants.
"We need leaders in Washington who will tirelessly stand up to the kind of hateful, misguided rhetoric we've seen thrown at the millions of New Americans and fight to forge consensus on an issue that has shaped this country," O'Malley wrote. He included links to Fetterman's campaign web page.
Fetterman is the mayor of Braddock, Pa., a struggling former manufacturing borough near Pittsburgh. His campaign against former Rep. Joe Sestak and Katie McGinty, a former environmental official in the Clinton and Rendell administrations, has become a rallying point for liberal Democrats.
O'Malley, who was mayor of Baltimore before becoming his state's chief executive, dropped out of the Democratic presidential race after finishing third in the Iowa caucuses Feb. 1. He had made a more welcoming immigration policy a major theme of his campaign.
Fetterman's wife Giselle came to the U.S. from Brazil and overstayed her visa, living for several years as illegal immigrant as her mother worked cleaning houses to support the family, O'Malley wrote. (She eventually got a green card).
"It's time we approached the issue of immigration with humanity and an understanding of how we have all been shaped by it, directly or indirectly," O'Malley wrote. "Once again, we must remember that the enduring symbol of our nation isn't the barbed wire fence — it's the Statue of Liberty."
O'Malley met Fetterman through strategist Bill Hyers, an advisor to both men. O'Malley also has a Pittsburgh tie: his father is a native of the city.
It is O'Malley's first endorsement since leaving the presidential race.
