Biden gains endorsement from Alabama’s lone Democratic House rep

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign for president picked up a key Super Tuesday endorsement in the South on Friday, with Alabama’s lone Democratic House member pledging her support heading into the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.

Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, said that not only can Biden “talk to anyone,” but “has a proven track record of furthering what Dr. King fought for.”

The congresswoman — a native of Selma, Ala. — told The Associated Press that she purposefully announced her support of Biden on the weekend of King’s birthday observance.

“The No. 1 threat to my district is Donald Trump. The No. 1 threat to Martin Luther King’s legacy is Donald Trump,” Sewell told the AP. “The best way I can counter that threat is to support someone who can beat him.”

Sewell cited Biden’s work to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in the 1970s as well as other efforts as reasons for her backing, according to the AP report.

According to the AP, she will join Biden on the campaign trail this weekend in South Carolina. The Palmetto State holds the South’s first primary on Feb. 29, just ahead of Super Tuesday.

Sewell is the 11th member of the Black Caucus that has endorsed the former Delaware senator, by far the most received thus far by any Democratic presidential candidate.