The National Education Association has moved a step closer to endorsing Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primries, with its PAC council voting to recommend the former U.S. senator and secretary of state.
The move could add fuel to Clinton’s campaign to secure the White House—and would come at a time when interest is surging in Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and in a possible run by Vice President Joe Biden.
The endorsement is not a done deal until the union’s board of directors takes up the matter. But if approved, it’s a sign that the 3 million-member union wants to act while its endorsement carries weight and not repeat 2008, when it rather embarrassingly didn’t back anyone until after Barack Obama had already clinched the nomination.