Mark Ruffalo backs Perriello in Virgina gubernatorial race

Actor Mark Ruffalo is backing Democrat Tom Perriello in Virginia’s gubernatorial primary, calling on supporters to donate and help with “get out the vote” efforts ahead of the Tuesday primary. 

“I wanted to ask you to please pay attention to this race, and do what you can to help the bold progressive visionary, Tom Perriello,” Ruffalo wrote Sunday in an email for the liberal group Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC).

Ruffalo praised Perriello for his “progressive” record and said he is not beholden to large lobbying interests.

{mosads}“He is the only candidate in the race to refuse to accept any campaign contributions from monopolies like Dominion Energy or oil and gas companies which too often dictate policy,” said Ruffalo, who has also previously spoken out against hydraulic fracking.

“He’s the only candidate who took a strong stand against construction of new pipelines that will decimate communities. In Congress, he took courageous votes for progressive priorities ranging from health care to climate legislation to the Dream Act,” the actor continued, referring to the Obama-era program that allows some undocumented minors to stay in the U.S.

The email blast reached 1 million people across the country and more than 23,000 people in Virginia, a PCCC spokeswoman said.

Ruffalo supported Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nominee in the Democratic presidential election, saying Clinton needed to “adopt” Sanders’s message and that the Vermont senator “awoke something” in him.

The actor pointed out that Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sanders both “joined the PCCC in endorsing” Perriello.

Perriello is facing off against Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam in the primary, where polls show a close race. 

Ruffalo has starred in movies including “The Avengers,” “Spotlight” and “13 Going on 30.”