WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Four Democratic House members publicly threw their support behind Rep. Jack Murtha's, D-Pennsylvania, bid for House majority leader, in a letter to Democratic colleagues released Friday.

Democratic Reps. Anna Eshoo, George Miller, Mike Thompson, and Zoe Lofgren -- all from California, claimed. "It was because of his courage to speak truth to power that we are in the majority today.

"He gave the Democrats a credible voice in national security issues; a voice that was heard loud and clear across this great country," wrote the Democrats, who are all close to likely House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California. "It was a voice that would change the course of history."

Murtha, who was first elected in 1974, is running against Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, for the majority leader post -- a race that could get heated and divisive as Democrats prepare to take control the House for the first time in over a decade.