Kerry to campaign with Biden in New Hampshire

Former Secretary of State John Kerry will campaign with Joe Biden in New Hampshire to help bolster the former vice president’s chances in the state’s crucial 2020 primary.

Biden’s presidential campaign announced Thursday that Kerry will join Biden at events in Nashua and Hampton on Sunday as the former vice president remains tangled in a tight race.

Polling has shown a fluid field in New Hampshire, with Biden in its top tier along with Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg. The RealClearPolitics polling average in the New Hampshire primary shows Buttigieg with a 3-point lead.

However, observers speculate that Warren and Sanders could end up with advantages in the Granite State, where primary voters have a track record of rewarding candidates who hail from neighboring states. 

Kerry’s endorsement Thursday and appearances with Biden this weekend could help neutralize that factor: Kerry represented Massachusetts in the Senate for 18 years before being tapped by President Obama to serve as secretary of State. 

The campaign’s announcement of Kerry’s appearances comes after the former Massachusetts senator announced his endorsement for Biden.

“I believe Joe Biden is the President our country desperately needs right now, not because I’ve known Joe so long, but because I know Joe so well,” Kerry, who was the Democratic Party’s 2004 presidential nominee, said in a statement.

“I’ve never before seen the world more in need of someone who on day one can begin the incredibly hard work of putting back together the world Donald Trump has smashed apart,” he added.

Biden and Kerry served together in the Senate for more than two decades and worked together again in the Obama administration. Kerry is the second Obama administration Cabinet member to endorse Biden in the presidential race after former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack threw his support behind Biden’s White House bid last month.