Release: U.S. Democratic House Leadership Endorses Sarah McBride for Congress
Sarah McBride receives the endorsement of the highest-ranking Democratic leaders
Wilmington, DE — Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark & House Democratic Chair Pete Aguilar announced their support of State Senator Sarah McBride’s campaign for Delaware’s open Congressional seat.
The joint statement on the endorsement said, “As Leaders of the House Democratic Caucus, we are honored to announce our strong endorsement of State Senator Sarah McBride for Delaware’s open Congressional seat. Sarah is ready to deliver for the people of Delaware. She is a proven leader who will fight for affordable health care, accessible child care, and our friends in organized labor.
“We stand with Sarah McBride and could not be more excited to work with her this year.”
In response to the announcement, Senator Sarah McBride said, “I am deeply honored to receive the support of the leadership of the Democratic Caucus. In a time of divisiveness, the Democratic leaders of the House have remained steadfast in their commitment to the values of our party and delivering for working families across the nation. I could not be more excited to get to DC to serve in a Democratic majority come 2025 with future-Speaker Jeffries, future-Majority Leader Clark, and future-Majority Whip Aguilar.”
This follows Delaware’s Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester endorsing McBride to succeed her last week. Since launching her campaign a year ago, McBride has built a campaign that has made her the frontrunner for the seat by earning a wide coalition of endorsements, beating fundraising records, and leading a grassroots organizing operation that has reached thousands of Delaware voters. McBride has been endorsed by more than twenty Delaware unions, five Delaware statewide elected officials, 23 of her colleagues in the General Assembly and counting, community organizers, and national advocacy organizations. She has also been endorsed by caucuses representing nearly every Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, including both the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the moderate NewDems Coalition caucus.
Leaders and organizations that have announced their support of Senator McBride include:
Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi
Delaware Building and Construction Trades
AFSCME & AFSCME Council 81
Teamsters Local 326
Delaware State Association of Letter Carriers
UFCW Local 27
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 313
United Association Plumbers and Steamfitters of the United States and Canada Local Union 74
Delaware Laborers Local 199
International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 5 & Local 7
UA Sprinkler Fitters Local 669
International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 1
International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Ironworkers Local 451
Millwright and Machinery Erectors Local 219
Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters Local 255
Piledrivers & Divers Local #474
IUPAT District Council 21
Boilermakers Local 13
Cement Masons Local 592
Sheet Metal Workers Local 19
United Telephone Workers of Delaware/CWA Local 13101
Heat & Frost Insulators Local 42
Roofers Local 30
International Union of Operating Engineers Local 542
Amalgamated Transit Union
Association of Flight Attendants
Planned Parenthood Action Fund
Reproductive Freedom for All
EMILY's List
Delaware Stonewall PAC
Shore Democrats
End Citizens United / Let America Vote
Next50
National Women’s Political Caucus
National Organization for Women PAC
Elect Democratic Women
Defend the Vote
Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate
New Democrat Coalition Action Fund
Congressional Progressive Caucus
Our Revolution
Human Rights Campaign PAC
LPAC
LGBTQ+ Victory Fund
Attorney General Kathy Jennings
Treasurer Colleen Davis
Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro
State Auditor Lydia York
Former Lt. Governor & Attorney General Matt Denn
Former State Auditor & New Castle County Executive Dennis Greenhouse
Senate President Pro Tempore Senator Dave Sokola
Senate Majority Leader Senator Bryan Townsend
Senate Majority Whip Senator Elizabeth Lockman
Sen. Laura Sturgeon (SD-04)
Sen. Kyle Evans Gay (SD-05)
Sen. Russ Huxtable (SD-06)
Sen. Spiros Mantzavinos (SD-07)
Sen. Jack Walsh (SD-09)
Sen. Stephanie Hansen (SD-10)
Sen. Nicole Poore (SD-12)
Sen. Marie Pinkney (SD-13)
Sen. Kyra Hoffner (SD-14)
Sen. Trey Paradee (SD-17)
Fmr. State Senator Margaret Rose Henry (SD-02)
House Majority Leader Val Longhurst
Rep. Nnamdi Chukwuocha (HD-01)
Rep. Kendra Johnson (HD-05)
Rep. Debra Heffernan (HD-06)
Rep. Krista Griffith (HD-12)
Rep. DeShanna Neal (HD-13)
Rep. Sophie Phillips (HD-18)
Rep. Kim Williams (HD-19)
Rep. Stell Parker Selby (HD-20)
Rep. Paul Baumbach (HD-23)
Rep. Ed Osienski (HD-24)
Rep. Cyndie Romer (HD-25)
Rep. Bill Carson (HD-28)
Mayor Mike Purzycki, Wilmington
Mayor Valarie Windle Leary, New Castle
Wilmington City Council President Trippi Congo
Wilmington City Council Member Zanthia Oliver (District 3)
Wilmington City Council Member Bregetta Fields (District 5)
Wilmington City Council Member Chris Johnson (District 7)
Wilmington City Council Member Nathan Field (District 8)
Wilmington City Council Member Maria Cabrera (At-Large)
Former Newark Mayor Polly Sierer
Y.F. Lou, Christina School Board Member
Maria Matos, Nonprofit Leader & Community Advocate
Dr. Terri Hodges, Education & Civil Rights Advocate
A growing list of local elected officials, mayors, and advocates from across Delaware
ABOUT SARAH MCBRIDE
Sarah McBride represents roughly 50,000 Delawareans in the First State Senate District, which includes parts of Wilmington and Brandywine Hundred. Sarah grew up in Wilmington and has been advocating for her community for decades. She worked for former Governor Jack Markell, the late Attorney General Beau Biden, and served in the Obama White House. Most recently, she served as the national spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ equal rights organization.
When McBride was elected in November 2020, she became the first openly transgender state senator in American history. In just her first term, McBride passed the landmark Healthy Delaware Families Act, providing paid family and medical leave to workers throughout the First State and marking the largest expansion of Delaware's social safety net in decades. She also passed legislation expanding access to health care, requiring mental health and media literacy education in public schools, promoting green technologies, preventing lead poisoning in youth, and protecting workers and families.
McBride currently serves as chair of the Senate Health & Social Services Committee and is a member of the Senate’s Judiciary Committee, Education Committee, Banking, Business, Insurance, and Technology Committee, and Executive Committee.
Sarah married her late husband Andrew Cray in 2014 and is the proud aunt of seven. She is a graduate of Cab Calloway School of the Arts and American University. McBride has taught public policy at the University of Delaware and is the author of the 2018 memoir, “Tomorrow Will Be Different,” which includes a foreword from President Joe Biden.
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