Kamala Harris nabs high-profile 'Reckoning Crew' endorsement in South Carolina

[yuiyoshida]

(CNN)Sen. Kamala Harris, whose fight for the Democratic presidential nomination relies heavily on her ability to garner support from African American voters in the South, has nabbed the endorsement of South Carolina's most well-known grassroots organizers.

The "Reckoning Crew," a group of 100 predominately black female activists, announced its endorsement of the California Democrat on Thursday. The group, led by Bernice Scott, organizes in the rural part of Richland County, the state's second biggest county. It backed Hillary Clinton in 2008 over then-Sen. Barack Obama; Obama bested Clinton by more than 25 points. It backed Clinton again in 2016; that time around, the endorsement helped power Clinton to a nearly 50-point victory over Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

In an interview with CNN, Scott, who is the grandmother of Harris' state political director and a former Richland County Council member, said it's not just Harris' identity but also her record that led to the endorsement.

"Not only because she's a woman and a black woman, but her credentials are very high," Scott said. "You look at that and figure who can get up and make people proud, and make people whole again. That's her."

Locking in the support of one of the first-in-the-South primary state's most sought-after organizers could help Harris, who trails former Vice President Joe Biden and Sanders in recent state polls. Nationally, Harris has settled in the single digits in most polls, putting her in the top five of the 23-person Democratic field.

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/13/politics/kamala-harris-endorsement-reckoning-crew/index.html