WATERTOWN, MA – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has announced its endorsement of Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian for United States Congress. After the Massachusetts Senate special election on June 25, Rep. Ed Markey’s 5th district House seat is now vacant, which means another special election will be held to fill the remainder of Markey’s term.

“We stand with Peter Koutoujian as he embarks on his new path to Congress. His leadership in Massachusetts and in the Armenian American community has been steadfast and inspiring, and he has the ANCA’s full backing in this election process and beyond,” said ANCA National Board member Stephen Mesrobian of Foxborough, MA

Peter Koutoujian is a leader in the Armenian-American community, especially in Massachusetts’ 5th district, which includes the towns of Belmont, Lexington, Waltham and Watertown, all of which are densely populated with Armenians.

Koutoujian has almost 25 years of government experience, beginning his career as a prosecutor in the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office. After four years, he was elected to the Massachusetts legislature in 1997.

He quickly rose through the ranks in the legislature, serving in leadership positions for 10 of his 14 years while in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. During that time, Koutoujian championed causes important to Armenian-Americans, including providing trade incentives for countries that recognize past genocides and penalizing companies that do business with countries known to be committing them. He was also the lead sponsor of annual Armenian Genocide Commemoration.

One of Koutoujian’s greatest achievements while serving in the Massachusetts Legislature was the creation of the Armenian Heritage Park (AHP) along the Rose Kennedy Greenway in downtown Boston. Peter authored the legislation to establish the park and aggressively pursued state officials for 10 years seeking its approval. The AHP opened in May 2012.

In January of 2011, Peter was appointed Sheriff of Middlesex County — representing 1.5 million residents — and was elected this past November with 77% of the vote.

In the spring of 2011, Peter’s work on behalf of the Armenian community and devotion to his heritage earned him the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor. This national award is given to outstanding Americans who have distinguished themselves through significant contributions to the United States and embody our patriotic values.

A little more than a year later, Koutoujian received the prestigious Mkhitar Gosh Medal from Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan in recognition of his leadership on behalf of the Armenian American community.

“This special election is a great opportunity to help a longstanding champion of the causes we share and values we hold dear as a community. There is no doubt that if Peter Koutoujian is elected to Congress, he will substantially strengthen our voice on Capitol Hill,” added Mesrobian.

Koutoujian announced his candidacy officially on July 1st. You can visit Peter’s website at www.koutoujianforcongress.com to watch his announcement video and learn more about his candidacy.

If you would like to volunteer or donate to the campaign, please email anca@anca.org.

Photo Caption: Middlesex County Sheriff and Massachusetts 5th Congressional district candidate Peter Koutoujian with ANCA National Board Member Stephen Mesrobian, ANCA Eastern Region Board Member Tamar Kanarian and ANCA Eastern Massachusetts activists Mikael Garabedian and Dikran Kaligian.