House impeachment manager from Texas endorses Joe Biden

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is looking ahead to the critical Super Tuesday primary slate with a new endorsement from a Texas congresswoman who served as an impeachment manager in the Senate trial of President Donald Trump.

Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, is the sixth Congressional Hispanic Caucus member and 43rd member of Congress to back Biden publicly. Both marks lead the Democratic presidential field, yet the former vice president still stands at a perilous point in his candidacy: He finished fourth in the Iowa caucuses and fifth in the New Hampshire primary, and now he's depending on Saturday's Nevada caucuses and the Feb. 29 South Carolina primary for a rebound ahead of the March 3 Super Tuesday lineup, which includes Texas.

Garcia, one of the first two Latina congresswomen from Texas, announced her decision as early voting begins in her state. Texas has the second most delegates at stake on March 3, behind only California. Nevada, meanwhile, is the first nominating contest to prominently feature Hispanic voters.

Biden’s disappointing start, Garcia said in an interview, doesn’t shake her belief that he would make the best president among Democrats and have the strongest chance to defeat the Republican incumbent in November. Garcia also echoed the Biden campaign’s argument that more racially and ethnically diverse electorates in Nevada and South Carolina will return the 77-year-old candidate to contention for the nomination.

“The vice president is probably one of the most qualified people I’ve seen run for president,” the 69-year-old Garcia told The Associated Press. “Having worked his way up from city hall to working side by side with President Obama is a story in itself.”

It’s not clear that elected leaders’ endorsements sway voters significantly. Biden had key backers in...