Detroit mayor endorses Biden

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan (D) is endorsing former Vice President Joe Biden in the 2020 Democratic primary, The Associated Press reports. 

“I’m going to do whatever he asks me to do,” Duggan told the outlet. 

The mayor said Biden was a “great friend of Detroit” as vice president and visited “multiple times.” 

“He cares deeply about the city and auto industry and auto workers. Joe Biden has a whole career of watching out for the working class in this country,” Duggan told the AP.{mosads}

Duggan told the outlet he will spend Wednesday with Biden in Detroit, where Biden is among the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates expected to address the NAACP national convention. 

Twenty of the White House hopefuls will also take part in two debates in the city next week. 

In an emailed statement, Biden said he is “incredibly honored to have Mayor Duggan’s support.”

“Detroit represents the backbone and prosperity of the middle-class and heart of the American auto industry, and Mike has done tremendous work spurring the city’s economic growth after crisis, revitalizing its mass transit system, and expanding access and opportunity to the city’s job training services for citizens,” Biden said. “Michigan, and Detroit in particular, will be crucial to defeating Donald Trump and restoring the soul of our nation, and I look forward to meeting firsthand with voters over the coming months to make the case.”

Biden campaigned for Duggan in 2017 during the city’s primary election. He recorded a robocall urging voters to reelect Duggan. 

Duggan endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016. 

Michigan was narrowly won by Trump in 2016 and will be a key state for the Democratic candidate to win in 2020. 

—Updated at 8:38 p.m.