Senator Robert Menendez set to endorse Hillary... [View All]

[SaveElmer]

WASHINGTON, June 11 — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, has picked up the endorsement of Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, one of the most influential Democrats in his state and a prominent Hispanic member of Congress, aides to both lawmakers said on Monday.

Mr. Menendez’s endorsement, which the aides said was to be announced on Tuesday, comes as Mrs. Clinton and her rivals for the nomination are aggressively courting Hispanic voters.

Those voters are likely to play a more important role in nominating a candidate in the next presidential election because several states with large Hispanic populations, including New Jersey, have moved their primaries or caucuses to early 2008.

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Mrs. Clinton’s main rival, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, had reached out to Mr. Menendez in recent weeks in an apparent effort to win his support, according to one person close to Mr. Menendez.

The endorsement by Mr. Menendez, a Cuban-American raised in Union City, N.J., will help Mrs. Clinton solidify her standing in New Jersey, where Gov. Jon S. Corzine has already announced his support for her candidacy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/12/us/politics/12menendez.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin

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