Former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey endorses Biden

Former Vice President Joe Biden was endorsed by former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey (D) on Wednesday.

Kerrey, who also served as Nebraska governor, touted Biden as the best choice to defeat President Trump based on Biden’s experience and character. 

“I choose Joe Biden. I trust Joe Biden. I’m certain that in Joe, America will get a president ready to hit the ground running,” Kerrey said in the endorsement released by the Biden campaign. {mosads}

{mosads}“I trust that Joe will assemble an experienced cabinet to do the people’s work, and that he’ll honor science and facts and renew our fight against climate change. I trust that he’ll work to narrow the widening income and wealth gaps that make it too hard for families to get by, and too easy to whip up division,” Kerrey, a Vietnam War veteran, continued. 

Kerrey served as Nebraska governor from 1983 to 1987, prior to his Senate career. As a senator he served alongside Biden in the upper chamber for more than a decade, before Kerrey retired in 2000. In 2012, he tried to return to the Senate but lost to Republican Sen. Deb Fischer, who currently holds the seat.

The Biden campaign said it’s received more than 500 endorsements from national, state and local leaders. 

Kerrey’s endorsement comes after Biden took the stage with 11 other contenders for the fourth Democratic debate on Tuesday night.

It also comes as prominent progressive lawmakers are coming out in support of one of Biden’s rivals, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt). 

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) announced late Tuesday she’d support Sanders in the 2020 race, and fellow progressive freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is expected to announce her endorsement of the Vermont senator at a Sanders rally in her Queens district on Saturday. 

Biden, Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are seen as the front-runners in the narrowing primary field.