NASHUA, N.H. — Bernie Sanders is set to receive an endorsement from former NAACP leader Ben Jealous before the primary this week, boosting the candidate’s profile among black voters before the New Hampshire primary.
Jealous will appear with the Vermont senator at an event in the Granite State before the Feb. 9 primary, according to a report.
As he battles Hillary Clinton for the democratic nomination, Sanders has not done as well with black voters, a key demographic in the upcoming South Carolina primary. According to a recent poll, Clinton outpolls Sanders in South Carolina among black voters 74-17.
While serving as the head of the NAACP from 2008-2012, Jealous pushed criminal justice reform and worked with the Baltimore Police Department. His endorsement adds Jealous to a small group of prominent black leaders who have already endorsed Sanders, such as Nina Turner, Cornell West and Rep. Keith Ellison, all of whom frequently appear with Sanders on the campaign trail.
In New Hampshire, Sanders leads in the polls by 16.5 points, but in Iowa he lost to Clinton by just 0.2 percent. In South Carolina, Clinton leads Sanders by a much larger margin, 51.8-36.3. Clinton and Sanders will face off on stage tonight at 9 p.m. EST at the MSNBC debate in Durham, N.H.
