Missouri Democratic Rep. Ike Skelton said Tuesday he will back Hillary Clinton for president, a move that gives her a much-needed boost in the race for superdelegates and highlights her strength with rural voters.
“It is my intention as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention to vote for Senator Hillary Clinton because of her support in rural America, her commitment to national security and her dedication to our men and women in uniform,” Skelton said in a statement.
Skelton, of Lexington, is the last of Missouri’s four Democrats in the U.S. House to choose sides in the race between Clinton, D-N.Y., and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver is backing Clinton, while Reps. William Lacy Clay and Russ Carnahan have endorsed Obama. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., also has been a prominent booster of Obama.
Skelton, a conservative Democrat who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, was among a half-dozen Democratic House members called to meet with Clinton after she won the Pennsylvania primary last week.
During those meetings, other lawmakers said Clinton touted her substantial victory in Pennsylvania and the fact that her campaign had seen a surge in contributions.
Skelton did not publicly comment on the reason for his shift out of the undecided column. But his rural Missouri district matches areas where Clinton has done well with white, blue-collar voters and older voters in recent primaries in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The 4th Congressional District is more than 90 percent white and has a heavy military presence around Fort Leonard Wood and Whiteman Air Force Base.
As of Tuesday, the most recent AP count showed Clinton leading Obama in superdelegate endorsements, 261-240. But Obama has won more pledged delegates in primaries and caucuses, giving him an overall lead of 133 delegates.
Obama narrowly defeated Clinton in Missouri’s Feb. 5 primary, with Obama faring well in St. Louis and Kansas City and Clinton doing better in rural areas like Skelton’s district. The candidates evenly split the state’s 72 pledged delegates.
Skelton is one of 16 Missouri superdelegates — party and elected officials who can support whomever they choose at the convention, regardless of what happens in the primaries. Because the Democratic race is so close, the nomination may be decided by the nearly 800 superdelegates that make up about 19 percent of the overall delegates.
Those who remain undecided have been the subject of an intense lobbying campaigns by both candidates and their surrogates. With Skelton’s endorsement Tuesday, Clinton and Obama each has the support of five Missouri superdelegates while six remain undecided.
Undecided Missouri superdelegates include Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, Attorney General Jay Nixon, Democratic Party chairman John Temporiti, party vice chair Yolanda Wheat, State Rep. Maria Chappelle-Nadal and Democratic National Committee member Leila Medley.
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