Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) will announce his endorsement of former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg this Friday, according to the New Jersey Globe.
Buttigieg and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) appear to have come out of the Iowa Democratic caucuses on Monday as the top two, though the results are still not complete. On Thursday, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez called for a recanvass of the results..
Buttigieg represents a more moderate sect of the Democratic electorate while Sanders is the most left-of-center candidate in the race.
Kim and Buttigieg were Rhodes Scholars at Oxford University together. He is the seventh House member to endorse Buttigieg. Reps. Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa) and Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.) also endorsed him.
“I know Pete, I trust Pete and I believe he’s ready to move our country forward,” Kim said in a press release about the endorsement.
“I’ve known him nearly half my life, we shared the joys of each other’s weddings, and we had hard conversations about deployments to Afghanistan and what it means to serve our nation.”
Kim, who was a national security officer in the Bush and Obama administrations, touted Buttigieg’s executive experience as Mayor of South Bend.
“Over the years I’ve seen Pete not only step up to face some of our nation’s toughest challenges with calm and precision, but he also truly cares about helping people live their best lives,” Kim said. “I’m proud to stand with him in his fight to become the next President of the United States.”