By MARC LEVY
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Former Vice President Joe Biden has added to his stable of presidential primary endorsements in Pennsylvania, picking up the backing of two more of the state’s Democrats in Congress.
U.S. Reps. Conor Lamb and Chrissy Houlahan, both serving in their first full terms, endorsed Biden over the weekend.
Lamb represents a politically divided district outside Pittsburgh that Republican Donald Trump narrowly won in 2016’s presidential election. Houlahan’s southeastern Pennsylvania district has long been Republican turf, but Democrat Hillary Clinton won it in 2016 by 9 percentage points.
Pennsylvania has the fifth-most delegates in the Democratic primary. With an April 28 primary date, it is a late primary state that still could be an important prize if the nominee remains in doubt past March.
Last month, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign became the first in the Democratic presidential primary to hire field staff in Pennsylvania.
Biden has already garnered the endorsement of Pennsylvania’s U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and three other U.S. House members from Pennsylvania.
Biden has a number of built-in advantages in Pennsylvania. He has his campaign headquarters in Philadelphia and deep political inroads in Pennsylvania after living for decades just across the border in Wilmington, Delaware, as that state’s longtime senator.
Biden also spent part of his boyhood in Scranton, used Pennsylvania as a backdrop to announce the start of his campaign and has campaigned for many Democrats in the state, including Lamb.