Another Democratic House member is set to enter his party’s crowded presidential fray, as Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts was pictured in his home state filming a presumptive candidacy announcement.
Sources close to Moulton say that the Massachusetts lawmaker will announce his bid for the Democratic nomination within a week, they told Axios.
Moulton, 40, was first elected to Congress in 2014 after he defeated scandal-plagued Rep. John Tierney in a Democratic primary challenge. The three-term congressman is a former Marine Corps officer who served four tours in Iraq between 2003 and 2008, including the initial invasion of Baghdad in 2003.
“Seth has said he’s seriously thinking about running and will announce his decision by the end of the month,” Moulton aide Matt Corridoni said. Corridoni most recently served as Moulton’s press secretary on Capitol Hill until February 2019, according to employee data from the U.S. House.
Moulton’s campaign will be centered around issues relate to national defense, foreign policy, and improvements to the Veterans Administration, mirroring the causes he has championed throughout his congressional tenure.
The lawmaker, who holds multiple Harvard degrees, has fueled speculation over a possible run for months now, actively engaging voters, particularly veterans, throughout early Democratic primary states.
If Moulton decides to officially declare for the race, he will becoming the 20th candidate for the Democratic nomination. The race’s front-runner, former Vice President Joe Biden, has yet to announce a presidential run. Several of Moulton’s Democratic House colleagues are already in the race, including Reps. Eric Swalwell, Calif., Tulsi Gabbard, Hawaii, and Tim Ryan, Ohio. A pair of former House members who recently left office are also running, Beto O’Rourke of Texas and John Delaney of Maryland.
With an ever-growing field of candidacies for the nomination, Democratic Party leaders announced last month that only candidates who receive contributions from 65,000 individual donors across at least 20 states would qualify for the first debate, set for Miami, Fla., in June.
