South Carolina congressman to endorse Hillary Clinton
WASHINGTON — U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 Democrat in the House and a prominent African-American leader, will endorse Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Friday, NBC News reported on Thursday.
The endorsement comes ahead of the Feb. 27 Democratic primary in South Carolina, where more than half of the voters are expected to be African-Americans.
Also, earlier Thursday, Clinton was endorsed by the Congressional Black Caucus, a much-needed boost to her campaign.
Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have built strong ties to the African-American community over the past decades.
Several lawmakers cited Clinton’s long history of not only working on issues important to black Americans, but on getting Democrats elected and advancing the party’s agenda.
“Mrs Clinton has demonstrated her leadership skills. She has labored in various capacities all of her adult life and now she is ready to serve our country by occupying the highest office in our country,” said U.S. Representative G.K. Butterfield.
The group’s backing will be important as Clinton seeks to recover from Tuesday’s stinging loss to Senator Bernie Sanders in the New Hampshire primary.
Black voters make up a large bloc in the Democratic primary in South Carolina and will be increasingly significant to the Democrats as the presidential contest moves from Iowa and New Hampshire to more demographically diverse states.
