From the Carl Sciortino campaign, Sept. 18: The Progressive Change Campaign Committee endorsed Carl Sciortino in the Oct. 15 Democratic primary to fill Ed Markey’s seat in the 5th Congressional District – its first endorsement of the 2014 cycle.

The committee and co-founder Stephanie Taylor called Sciortino a “true partner to the grassroots” and cited leadership on a variety of issues, saying in an e-mail to members that he showed “bold leadership in the PCCC’s first-ever open debate by supporting prosecuting Wall Street bankers, Elizabeth Warren’s Glass-Steagall bill, increasing Social Security benefits, Medicare For All and reversing Citizens United. Carl was a leader on Syria by being the first to announce he opposed bombing Syria and successfully getting his opponents to follow his lead a week later.”

Officials said the group has more than 33,000 Massachusetts members and 5,000 in Markey’s district. It raised more than $2.7 million during the 2012 election cycle through 250,000 small-dollar donations and made more than 2 million calls to voters on behalf of progressive candidates, they said. The group plans a Wednesday national fundraising e-mail for Sciortino.