The Massachusetts American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) has endorsed Ed Markey and Dan Koh in their respective races for Senate and Congress.

The AFL-CIO is the largest federation of labor unions in the U.S., consisting of 61 national and international unions that together represent nearly 15 million active and retired workers. The group advocates for fair wages, expanded health care access, safe working conditions and workers’ rights. The AFL-CIO, formed in 1955, typically supports progressive and pro-labor policies.

“While we have a president who governs through greed and division and pursues policies to make the rich richer and the middle class smaller, we need champions in Congress who will stand strong against the billionaire takeover of Washington,” said Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Chrissy Lynch. “Sen. Markey has been an enthusiastic partner to unions amidst the Trump administration’s unprecedented attacks on the bedrock rights and values of the labor movement. He doesn’t wait for us to call him when we have a problem. He calls us and asks how he can help. The Massachusetts AFL-CIO is proud to support Senator Ed Markey for reelection.”

Markey is seeking re-election for the Democratic Senate nomination. Markey, who grew up in Malden, was elected to serve the remainder of John Kerry’s Senate term after Kerry was appointed U.S. secretary of state in 2013. He then went on to be elected to a full term in the Senate in 2014 and was re-elected in 2020 against challenger Joseph Kennedy III. 

He had served 20 terms – 18 full and two partial – as the representative for the Massachusetts 7th Congressional District from 1976 to 2013. Before that, he was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1973 to 1976. 

Markey earned 73% of the delegate vote at the 2026 Massachusetts Democratic State Convention at the end of May, while his opponent, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), received 27% of the support. 

With Moulton challenging Markey in the Democratic primary ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, the 6th District’s congressional seat is up for grabs.

Koh is running against Bethany Andres-Beck, John Beccia, Jamie Belsito, Mariah Lancaster and Tram Nguyen. Micah Jones is the Republican candidate on the ballot.

Koh became the first candidate to make it onto the 6th Congressional District primary ballot, after collecting over 2,000 certified signatures. 

“Dan Koh knows how to prioritize working people in government. He oversaw a City Hall in Boston that brought in historic economic development that secured tens of thousands of union jobs,” Lynch said. “He worked in the Biden White House to invest in and repair the infrastructure working people rely on and used those projects to actually empower communities by providing family-sustaining wages. Now, we have a president whose idea of investing in infrastructure is erecting golden monuments to himself, funded by taking health care and food from working people struggling to get by.”

Koh served as the special assistant to the president and deputy cabinet secretary at the White House, where he worked to implement legislation around the country’s infrastructure, creating clean energy jobs, lowering prescription drug costs for seniors and investing in education. 

Koh is a former Andover Select Board member and Biden White House aide. He served as deputy cabinet secretary, overseeing communications, policy and logistics between the White House, Cabinet and federal agencies. Koh previously served as chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Labor and chief operating officer of the software platform HqO.

“We need someone in Congress who will hit the ground running in the fight against Trump’s far-right grift, and we are confident Dan Koh is the candidate who will bring the focus back to improving the lives of working people,” Lynch said. 

Koh has spoken at three Democratic candidate debates at this point, noting the need to stand up now.

“We can sit back and roll over while this president starts another forever war, sends a mask down the streets to arrest our neighbors and kill American citizens, and drive us up for ridiculous tariffs, or we can fight back for the country we know and love,” Koh said in Billerica. “I have German, Irish, Italian, Lebanese, Korean, American kids, and I want them to grow up in a country I think all of you do – a country that’s proud of its diversity, that welcomes their neighbors and respects each other against what this president is trying to do in bias.”

Koh discussed how people have been convinced that it “is not a human right and that somehow copays or extra bills are normal and okay.” He spoke on President Donald Trump’s “attack” on Social Security and Medicare, and Koh called the attack on Iran a  distraction from the Epstein files and that “this president is literally hijacking our foreign policy to distract from his own personal scandal and it’s disgusting.”

Koh said in Ipswich that the country’s democracy is at stake and that this is a very scary time.

“Every single day the news gets more and more horrifying,” Koh said. “The question is, at this inflection point, who you elect and what experiences does that person have to be ready on day one to fight for the right things and to stand up to this president while also standing up for the most vulnerable communities in this district.”

Last week, in response to a question from the Swampscott Tides, Koh said at a debate in Swampscott that his previous roles in the White House will allow him to help ensure local implementation of federal regulations and support.

He said it will “take somebody who understands exactly what’s happening in every single agency how to fight back and kind of reverse” what President Donald Trump has done. He also said there needs to be a new version of the American Rescue Plan to bring more flexible dollars to the district.

The primary, for both Koh and Markey’s race, is scheduled for September 1.