Democratic congressional candidate Scott Salmon has added the endorsement of Donnell Carr, the former president of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Association of Westfield.

Salmon is competing in a large field of candidates for the chance to take on Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Clinton) in the fall.

“Scott has earned my support because he’s focused on fighting for real solutions for our community,” said Carr, who held the post from 2012 to 2018. “It is easy to simply talk about what you will do, but Scott has already demonstrated his commitment to fighting injustice and inequality wherever it exists.”

Salmon, a volunteer attorney at Newark Airport in the aftermath of the Trump administration’s Muslim Travel Ban, includes economic and racial equality as part of his campaign message.

“I am honored at this display of support,” Salmon said. “Dr. King stated that the civil rights movement would ‘remember not the words of its enemies, but the silence of its friends.’ I am proud to call myself a friend and advocate for the movement, and I will not be silent.”

As a Republican seat in a district narrowly carried by Hillary Clinton, New Jersey’s seventh district is widely viewed as potentially competitive this year.