One of the leaders of the progressive flank of the Democratic Party is set this week to give Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) his first Capitol Hill endorsement for president.
Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) will formally make his endorsement during an appearance with the independent senator and presidential candidate at a rally in Tucson Friday, the Los Angles Times reported.
“I couldn’t sit on the sidelines and wait for the tea leaves to be read better,” Mr. Grijalva said in an interview with the New York Times. “The positions he has taken and the values he holds are ones I share.”
Grijalva, a Hispanic-American, noted that he could make for an effective ally in helping Sanders reach out to Latino voters.
“Bernie has good positions on immigration and education, which are fountain issues for the Latino community,” he said. “There’s an opportunity to talk about those and expose the fact that Bernie is not just a one-tune candidate, which he’s not.”
The CPC boasts a membership of 68 House lawmakers. Many, including Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), have already endorsed Sanders’ stiffest challenger, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
According to FiveThirtyEight, Clinton leads Sanders in political endorsements from lawmakers and governors by a staggering 153-1.
The Grijalva backing comes one week before the Democratic candidates are slated to square off in the party’s first primary debate in Las Vegas.
Although Clinton leads Sanders nationally, polls indicate that the socialist-leaning senator does have a lead in Iowa and New Hampshire—the first two contests of the primary campaign.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story described Grijalva as a senator. We regret the error.
