Daniel Lander touted a significant endorsement of his campaign for Massachusetts State Senate in the Suffolk and Middlesex District, announcing that Sen. Elizabeth Warren had backed him over incumbent state Sen. William Brownsberger. (Disclosure: Lander’s mother, Lori Lander, is on the Local News Fund Advisory Board at the Cambridge Community Foundation, which has given financial support to Cambridge Day.)

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Lander, 34, who served on Warren’s presidential campaign in 2020, called Warren an inspiration for his own campaign. “She’s my political hero, and I have been inspired by her leadership since she first ran for Senate in 2012,” Lander said in a press release announcing the endorsement. He also noted that Warren had challenged an incumbent senator. But that was Sen. Scott Brown, who won a 2010 special election to replace the late Sen. Ted Kennedy and served only two years before losing to Warren. Other than Brown, no Republican has been elected to national office by Massachusetts voters since 1994. Brownsberger, meanwhile, also won his seat in 2012, and is president pro tem of the state Senate, one of the most powerful positions on Beacon Hill. Prior to this election, he had run unopposed since he was first elected to the state Senate. 

Lander’s other major endorsement came from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, whom he served as a senior aide. In addition, several Cambridge city councillors, including former Cambridge Mayor Marc McGovern, have given him the nod. 

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Brownsberger, 69, has lined up endorsements from Gov. Maura Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and Attorney General Andrea Campbell, among other state and district officials.

The Suffolk and Middlesex District spans parts of Belmont, Watertown, East Cambridge and the Boston neighborhoods of Allston, Brighton and Fenway.

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The Democratic primary election is Sept. 1.