Former Vice President Walter Mondale endorsed Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee, CNN reported.
"Keith was a Minnesota star in the state legislature and now in the U.S. House. Keith believes that we need to help all Americans succeed, and this message of inclusiveness is one that has resonated with people in the 5th Congressional District in Minnesota, who have re-elected Keith five times and who have turned out to vote in increasing numbers since Keith took office," Mondale said in a statement.
Keith is exactly the type of person our party needs right now, and I know he'd use his talents to elect Democrats across our country if he’s the next DNC chair," Mondale added.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders also endorsed Ellison. On. Jan. 18, CNN reported that Ellison called on Sanders to provide his list of supporters to the DNC, because the Democrats are "in an emergency."
Mondale, the 1984 Democratic presidential nominee, was President Jimmy Carter’s vice president and a former senator from Ellison's state, Minnesota.
Democrats are set to appear at a "future forum" Saturday, where the candidates will discuss their plans for the party. The DNC's 447 voting members will select a new chairman in late February in Atlanta, CNN reported.
The other top contender, former Secretary of Labor Tom Perez, also received the endorsement of a former vice president: Joe Biden.
"Tom knows how to talk to people, not down to them. He knows how to explain why our party’s core beliefs matter to the immigrant family in Arizona and the coal miner in West Virginia. That matters," Biden said Wednesday.
Sanders responded to Biden’s endorsement by calling Perez "the failed status-quo approach," CNN’s report said.