Kweisi Mfume, Former Head of the NAACP, Endorses Hillary Clinton for President

Kweisi Mfume in Baltimore in 2006. Mfume is endorcing Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for president. AP Photo/Don Wright

BALTIMORE—Former Maryland Democratic congressman and former head of the NAACP Kweisi Mfume has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, her campaign says.

The Clinton campaign announced Mfume’s endorsement in a news release on Monday.

Mfume says Clinton has a track record of working for everyday people, especially on issues important to the African American and Latino communities.

Mfume’s endorsement comes as a boost for Clinton who has seen the gap between her and Sen. Bernie in the polls grow narrower.

Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) during a break at the NBC-YouTube Democratic presidential debate at the Gaillard Center in Charleston, S.C., on Jan. 17, 2016. AP Photo/Mic Smith

On Monday, Sanders downplayed Clinton’s weekend victory in Nevada, pointing out that the win only resulted in her picking up four additional delegates, out of the 2,383 needed to win the nomination. He says his campaign has plenty of time to make up lost ground.

“This is about a slog, state by state by state,” he said. “Even if we do well, Secretary Clinton will get a lot of delegates and we'll just have to keep moving on.”

Clinton pulled ahead of Sanders late Monday, when she eked out the final delegate from Saturday’s Nevada caucuses, giving her a total of 52 caucus and primary delegates. Sanders has 51.