Biden receives endorsements from three swing-district Democrats

Three House Democrats who flipped seats in the midterm elections announced Sunday they are backing former Vice President Joe Biden in the 2020 election. 

Reps. Conor Lamb (D-Pa.), Elaine Luria (D-Va.) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) endorsed Biden, calling him the best candidate to take on President Trump and unite a divided country. 

The endorsements come as Biden tries to make the case that he’s the best candidate to win in areas that Trump carried in 2016. 

“I believe that the next President must attempt to unify this country,” Lamb said in a statement. “President Trump has only driven people further apart. Joe Biden has promised to try, above all, to bring people together, and that’s why I support him to become the next President of the United States.”

Lamb first won a tough special election in early 2018 after Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) resigned, and Lamb later unseated a Republican incumbent in the fall in a different district after court-ordered redistricting. 

Houlahan and Luria both flipped Republican-held seats in the 2018 when Democrats took back the House majority. 

“Joe Biden is ‘battle-tested’ on the world stage, in Congress, and in the White House. He will defeat Donald Trump and win in tough districts like mine,” Luria said in a statement.

“Our country needs a steady hand, someone who can help heal the country, an experienced and proven leader who can build teams with deep expertise and work across the aisle,” Houlahan said in a statement. “We need a leader who will restore American leadership, revive our alliances, and defend democratic values around the world. Joe Biden is that leader.”

The endorsements follow Biden’s backing from Iowa Rep. Abby Finkenauer (D), another lawmaker who flipped a GOP seat in 2018. Finkenauer became the first congressional representative from Iowa to back Biden when she endorsed him last week.