New Haven’s Democratic Party coalesced around U.S. Senate candidate Chris Murphy with a nearly unanimous endorsement Monday.

The city’s entire state delegation, Mayor John DeStefano Jr., 27 of New Haven’s 30 aldermen and the entire Democratic Town Committee announced their endorsement of Murphy over Susan Bysiewicz ’83, his rival in the race for the seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman ’64 LAW ’67, according to the New Haven Independent. In his speech accepting the endorsement, Murphy, who led former Secretary of the State Bysiewicz by 30 percentage points in a June Quinnipiac University poll, focused on November’s general election, where he is expected to face Republican front-runner wrestling magnate Linda McMahon.

At the announcement of the endorsements on the New Haven Green, both Murphy, who represents the state’s fifth district in Congress, and his supporters hailed New Haven as a political bellwether for Connecticut.

“You don’t go to Washington or to the statehouse if you don’t win New Haven,” DeStefano said, according to the Independent.

In 2010, New Haven played a major role in electing Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, giving him a margin of victory of 18,613 votes, three times the vote margin of 5,637 by which he won the state. Murphy may well come to rely on New Haven voters to propel him to victory in November, as the June Quinnipiac poll found him leading McMahon by only three percentage points, down from a the 15-point lead he held in March.

The election, for which the presidential contest is expected to generate high turnout, will take place on Nov. 6.