Shorter Gomez on Gubernatorial Backing:  Nothing but net. (via WWLP/Eastern State Exposition)

Governor Maura Healey is weighing in on Hampden County’s competitive primaries, siding with incumbents in both cases. Senator Adam Gomez, who faces Springfield City Councilor Malo Brown in next Tuesday’s Democratic primary, released a statement from Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll Thursday afternoon. They urged Hampden Senate District voters to renominate Gomez.

However, Healey has also lent her support to State Representative Bud Williams,ro who faces a challenge from educator Johnnie McKnight. Williams featured Healey’s backing in an ad airing on WWLP and WGGB and has mentioned her support in a mailer. The dual endorsements, while not surprising, attract a bit of notice as Gomez’s challenger is also in the employ of Williams as an aide.

“State Senator Adam Gomez is a vocal advocate for residents in Springfield and Chicopee, helping to advance legislation that will reduce the cost of housing, support students, and uproot inequities in healthcare,” Healey and Driscoll said in a statement.

“We’re supporting his candidacy for reelection so that he can continue his important work on behalf of residents in Western Massachusetts and across the Commonwealth,” they continued.

The Hampden Senate district includes over seven-eighths of Springfield and southerly precincts of Chicopee. The only areas of Springfield not in the district are parts of East Forest Park, Forest Park and 16 Acres.

The 11th Hampden is only in Springfield and covers the Bay, McKnight, Old Hill and Upper Hill neighborhoods as well as a sweep of East Forest Park and Pine Point. Its periphery reaches into East Springfield, Forest Park and 16 Acres.

Healey’s endorsement of Gomez had long been telegraphed. Notably, however, it comes two weeks after Brown claimed at a debate he had the better relationship with the governor. Brown suggested, without evidence, that Healey held some sort of grudge against Gomez for backing then-Boston Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz’s short-lived campaign for governor.

Gomez endorsed Chang-Diaz before Healey announced for governor. The now-former senator ended her gubernatorial campaign shortly after the state Democratic convention.

The Springfield Senator thanked the governor and lieutenant governor for their support.

“I’m incredibly grateful for the support of the Governor and Lt. Governor,” he said in his campaign’s release. “Their leadership has blazed a trail from Massachusetts across the country and has shown all of us what is possible when we work together.

It would be quite unusual for a sitting governor to endorse a primary challenger to a legislator. Even silence would raise eyebrows. Healey’s is only the latest in a line of endorsements Gomez has received among statewide officials. Earlier this week, he announced backing from Senator Ed Markey and Attorney General Andrea Campbell.

Healey’s endorsement of Williams came a bit less ceremoniously. She was among several officials pictured on a mailer Williams sent to voters earlier this month. Under her photo were rather stilted words of support, which felt off.

Williams’s mailer to voters in the 11th Hampden featuring Healey, other residents and officials. (WMP&I)

Healey’s political operation did not authenticate the quote, but it did confirm she was with Williams.

“Representative Bud Williams has been a strong leader for his community and an important partner to my administration,” Healey said via a spokesperson. “I’m proud to support his re-election.”

In the advertisement that he put up this week, Williams does not quote Healey, but notes her support and features the governor and her LG in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.

Healey’s support is unlikely to upend either race. Both incumbents appear in a good position in terms of campaign finances and support from organizations and pols. Gomez and Williams’s challengers have put up spirited fights, but hardly of a kind to make the governor’s move risky.

Gomez has endured a firehose of spurious accusations from Brown, who also has the backing of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. Neither would be reason for Healey to question her support for Gomez.

Williams has faced some scrutiny from Boston media for his record on Beacon Hill. The Boston Globe, which has been justifiably strafing the legislature with many uncomfortable truths, pointed out that a committee Williams chairs and for which he receives a stipend has not held a hearing this session.

McKnight, Williams’s challenger, has knocked the incumbent for skipping any opportunities to face him or the public. Williams has cited duties in Boston, although the House has not been in formal session this month.