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Harry Reid Endorses Hillary Clinton

Reid is retiring. He's been in the Senate since 1987. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
Reid is retiring. He's been in the Senate since 1987. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., endorsed Hillary Clinton for president Wednesday, joining the majority of congressional Democrats who are supporting her bid for the party’s nomination over Vermont Sen. Bernard Sanders.  

Reid’s support, revealed during an interview with CNN , came just a few days after the Democratic presidential campaign rolled through the Silver State. He became the 40th Senate Democrat to back her bid, according to Roll Call’s Endorsement Tracker .  “I think the middle class would be better served by Hillary,” Reid told CNN. “I also think she’s the woman to be the first president of the United States that’s a female.”  

Despite his unwillingness to endorse before the Nevada caucuses, Reid — who pushed for his state’s presidential preference contest to take place earlier in the cycle in order to gain more influence — was still involved in the caucuses.  

In the days before the caucuses, Reid called the head of the Culinary Union to encourage its workers to take time to participate. And Catherine Cortez Masto, the Democrat whom Reid endorsed to replace him in the November election, announced her support for Clinton and campaigned for her over the nine days before the caucuses.  

Clinton has most of the Democratic senators on her side, while Sanders has no Senate endorsements . Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat and a favorite of the progressive base with which Sanders has tried to align, has notably withheld her endorsement, so far.  

Contact Yokley at EliYokley@RollCall.com and on Twitter @EYokley


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