Sanders rolls out over 300 California endorsements

Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) presidential campaign rolled out more than 300 endorsements from California as it seeks to gin up support in the crucial Super Tuesday state. 

The campaign released endorsements from 40 elected officials, more than 80 community leaders and more than 200 academics in the Golden State as polls show a tight race in the California primary.

Among the endorsers are city council members, mayors, town supervisors, professors of political science and history, and activists from LGBTQ, environmental and civil rights groups. The latest list builds on 86 earlier California endorsements from union groups and other local officials.

“Having fought for the rights and dignity of working immigrant women for two decades, I trust Bernie Sanders to be a champion for justice for all of us,” said Oakland City Council member Nikki Bas. “Our nation needs a bold, principled leader who will end status quo politics and put the needs of everyday people before corporate profits.”

“Bernie Sanders has been explicitly articulating every single thing that we have been fighting for our entire lives,” added Los Angeles City Council member Gil Cedillo. “Our nation needs a revolutionary movement and there is no other viable candidate to carry out our agenda backed by our core values. I stood with Bernie in 2016, and I am even more proud to stand with him today and endorse his candidacy as the next President of the United States.”

The announcement of the endorsements comes ahead of a rally Sanders will hold with progressive firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in Los Angeles on Saturday. 

California is one of several states that hold their primaries or caucuses on March 3, dubbed Super Tuesday because of the number of nominating contests held that day. The Golden State is set to allocate a whopping 495 delegates based on the primary’s result, making the race a top target for front-runners to cement their standing or for middle-tier candidates to make up ground. 

Polling shows Sanders in a tightly packed top tier in the California primary with former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). The RealClearPolitics polling average in the state shows Biden with 21.2 percent, Sanders with 21 percent and Warren with 19.6 percent.