Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton boasted Tuesday that she had racked up endorsements from more than 50 black U.S. mayors, highlighting the weakness of rival Sen. Bernard Sanders with black voters.
The list of black mayors and former black mayors backing Mrs. Clinton spanned from California to Florida, including cities of Denver, St. Louis, Philadelphia and Atlanta.
Mrs. Clinton said that she was honored to have the mayors’ support.
“Mayors are on the front lines of many of our country’s toughest battles. They’re fighting to create jobs, rebuild our infrastructure, stop gun violence, and eliminate the inequities that tear communities apart,” she said in a statement.
“As president, I’ll always be a friend to America’s mayors. I’ll solicit their ideas and expertise at every step,” she said. “And I’m proud to stand with them today, because mayors are critical to growing our economy and strengthening our country, one community at a time.”
More than half of the mayors — 27 of them — represented cities in South Carolina, where the Clinton campaign is erecting a firewall to break Mr. Sanders’ momentum if he wins in the first two nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Mr. Sanders, a Vermont independent and avowed socialist, is the strongest rival to Mrs. Clinton but he has struggled to connect with black voters, who are a crucial voting bloc in Democratic primaries.
The Sanders campaign has move aggressively to make inroads in black communities as Mrs. Clinton has shored up support there.
In the polls, Mr. Sanders is gaining on Mrs. Clinton in Iowa and beating her in New Hampshire. That’s part of the reason for the Clinton campaign pouring resources into South Carolina, which holds the Democrats’ fourth nominating contest after Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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