Bernie Sanders, who is polling ahead or even with Hillary Clinton in Iowa and New Hampshire, said he is showing some momentum in another early nominating: South Carolina. But Clinton still has a hefty advantage.
Justin Bamberg, a state representative and lawyer for the family of Walter L. Scott, fatally shot by a police officer in South Carolina, announced Monday that he is withdrawing his support from Clinton and endorsing Sanders.
Bamberg said Monday that he initially did not give Sanders a “fair shake” but now believes he is the best candidate for president. He endorsed Clinton in December.
“Bernie represents bold new leadership,” he told reporters. “Don’t tell me Sen. Bernie Sanders cannot become president of the United States of America.”
A new poll released Sunday show that Clinton leads Sanders by 22 points. But the CBS News Battleground Tracker shows him gaining 14 points since December.
Sanders said on CBS' “Face the Nation” Sunday that the poll “is showing us making huge, huge gains. I feel confident that if we can win here in Iowa, if we can win in New Hampshire and those are going to be tough races, I think we stand an excellent chance to win in South Carolina and in Nevada.,” he said.
Chris Covert, Sanders’ South Carolina director, said Monday that the Sanders campaign will begin airing statewide TV ads in South Carolina later this week. It has only previously played radio ads in the state.
In South Carolina, the campaign has knocked on 200,000 doors and attempted to reach 750,000 voters.
“If you look at the amount of doors that we've knocked, the contacts we've made, the attempts we've made, the effort we are putting in, that is really the basis of how we are doing as well as we are doing," Covert said.
The Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to questions about the endorsement.
Anita Kumar: 202-383-6017, @anitakumar01