Marty Walsh is heading to the Rust Belt to campaign for Democrats
“I care too deeply about the future of our country to sit on the sidelines."
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is hitting the campaign trail again, but, this time, it’s much farther away from home — and he isn’t a candidate.Walsh, who has lent his support to his former chief of staff, Dan Koh, in a competitive Massachusetts congressional race, will now do the same this week for fellow Democrats in the Rust Belt states of Ohio and Indiana, where President Donald Trump picked up 51.3 percent and 56.5 percent of the vote, respectively, in 2016.Walsh, in a statement Wednesday, said there is much at stake in the upcoming national elections this fall.“I care too deeply about the future of our country to sit on the sidelines,” he said.On Thursday and Friday, the former labor leader will make appearances in the Midwest in support of Democratic candidates running for governor, lieutenant governor, state treasurer, and Congress, according to a press release from his campaign.Walsh is scheduled to speak in a roundtable discussion hosted by the Central Ohio Labor Council in Columbus; at a labor rally alongside candidates in Mansfield, Ohio; and in a Facebook Live interview with John Zody, chairman of the Indiana state Democratic party.On Friday morning, Walsh is scheduled to appear at an infrastructure press conference with candidates and labor officials in Cincinnati, and, that afternoon, he’ll lead a conversation in Indianapolis focused on how innovative cities can help workers, according to the release.This is not the first time Walsh, who was elected to a second term last year, has rallied support for his party.Walsh campaigned for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election and took to the podium that year at the Democratic National Convention where he shared his personal history with alcoholism and the labor movement with the country.Recently, he’s jumped around the Merrimack Valley canvassing for Koh in a 10-way battle for the party’s nomination in the 3rd Congressional District race.Walsh also has more travel plans on the horizon, The Boston Globe reports, with a similar trip in the works to Wisconsin and Iowa — two other states that voted in favor of Trump.And even though he’ll be outside the Boston area, Walsh told the newspaper Tuesday he loves his job and his out-of-state trips are not about his own political future.“I‘m not forgetting about Boston, I’m not forgetting about Massachusetts,” Walsh said. “But I feel it’s important as a Democrat to help other candidates, cheer on their successes, and push them and try to make a difference.”
