Lynch challenger D'Alessandro picks up campaign manager

The Milton Democrat challenging U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-South Boston) has brought on a campaign manager, his campaign said Thursday.

Mac D'Alessandro recently gathered 5,000 signatures, which are being certified by local elections officials. Two thousand signatures are needed to get on the ballot.

The campaign manager, Deborah Shah, has worked on the campaigns of state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, who beat Dianne Wilkerson, and Newton Mayor Setti Warren, who was up against state Rep. Ruth Balser. She served a brief stint as chief-of-staff to City Council President Michael Ross and had been working on Gov. Deval Patrick's re-election campaign as his deputy campaign manager for operations.

In his own statement, D'Alessandro said, “Deborah brings an outstanding record of political success and working on behalf of the Democratic values we all share. I am happy to have her managing my campaign, which will focus on the issues that matter to all of us, from holding health insurance companies and Wall Street accountable to creating good-paying jobs and protecting our civil rights.”

The Democratic primary is September 14.

Lynch, who has held the Massachusetts 9th Congressional seat since 2001, is also facing Republican Keith Lepor and Phil Dunkelbarger, a liberal independent who has unsuccessfully run for the seat before.