2020 Vice President Joe Biden reeled in a major endorsement in Florida on Thursday evening as U.S. Rep. Al Lawson, D-Fla., backed his presidential bid.
“I am pleased to endorse Vice President Joe Biden as our next president,” Lawson said. “Joe has a long history of doing what’s right and not what’s east to advance the causes of America’s working families.”
Lawson praised Biden, insisting he has a “proven track record of bringing people together and delivering results on issues ranging from health care to environment, from civil rights to women’s rights.”
The sophomore congressman singled out Biden’s “experience, common sense and decency” and insisted the former vice president doesn’t requite “on the job training” on economic issues or foreign policy.
Biden is currently leading the crowded field of Democratic presidential candidates in polls at both the state and national levels.
While he has only been in Congress since 2016 when he knocked off longtime U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., in the primary, Lawson has been a leading figure on the Florida political stage for decades. First elected to the Florida House in 1982, Lawson moved into the state Senate in 2010. While he eventually led Democrats in the upper chamber, Lawson failed in his first efforts to move into Congress, losing a primary to sitting U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Fla., in 2010 and then coming up short against U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland, R-Fla., two years later.
Lawson represents one of the largest districts in the state as it stretches out across North Florida, from Jacksonville to the Big Bend, bringing in parts of Tallahassee. It includes all of Baker, Gadsden, Hamilton and Madison Counties and parts of Columbia, Duval, Jefferson and Leon Counties.
Kevin Derby can be reached at kevin.derby@floridadaily.com.
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