Houston superdelegate switches support to ObamaFeb. 27, 2008, 10:24PM
AUSTIN — Democratic superdelegate and state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, of Houston, defected from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign Wednesday and joined a growing list of superdelegates to endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president, according to his campaign.
"I'm honored to have earned the support of Representative Thompson and am pleased that she'll play an important role in advancing our grassroots movement for change in Houston and across Texas," Obama said in a statement. "Throughout her three decades in the Legislature, she's been a tireless advocate for working families and when I'm president we'll work together to put the American dream within reach of every child in Texas and across our country."
Thompson, one of the longest serving Democrats in the state House, is one of the party insiders who, as a superdelegate, help choose the Democratic nominee at the national convention this summer in Denver.
Her defection was the second loss of the day for Clinton: Civil rights leader and Atlanta congressman John Lewis, a Democratic congressman from Atlanta, is the most prominent black leader to defect from Clinton's campaign in the face of recent near-unanimous black support for Obama.
Obama has won 11 straight primaries and caucuses since Super Tuesday, increased his advantage in the all-important delegate count and has attracted the support of his congressional colleagues.
In recent weeks, more than two dozen superdelegates have climbed aboard Obama's campaign.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/5576891.html