Former Ohio state senator and minority whip Nina Turner is pictured. | AP Photo Ohio's Nina Turner jumps from Clinton to Sanders

In a blow to Hillary Clinton, former Ohio state senator and minority whip Nina Turner is throwing her support behind Bernie Sanders.

The move is a surprise, considering how involved Turner has been with the Clintons. The former secretary of state met with Turner in October before her appearance at the Women's Leadership Forum. While she never formally endorsed Clinton, Turner was also involved in the Ready for Hillary super PAC, appeared at a Clinton organizing event, and served on the pro-Clinton super PAC Correct the Record until recently. Former President Bill Clinton was also involved in Turner’s unsuccessful run for Ohio Secretary of State last year.


"Yes, I was out there, 'ready' [for Clinton], because I wanted to make sure Democrats were ready," Turner said to Cleveland.com. "I thought it was important to show that Democrats were ready to go right back at it for 2015 and 2016. This has nothing to do with the secretary."

“I'm very attracted by his message and his style and that he has held pretty much strong on his beliefs and the world is catching up with him," Turner said about Sanders, who she formally endorsed Thursday.

On Monday Turner will introduce Sanders at a rally at Cleveland State University.

"Sen. Turner is a star in the Democratic Party. Bernie is very proud to have someone with so much talent and commitment join the grassroots campaign to fix the rigged economy propped up by a corrupt campaign finance system," Michael Briggs, Sanders' communication director said in a statement emailed to POLITICO.

The Vermont senator's campaign manager Jeff Weaver said the campaign was "extremely, extremely humbled" by Turner's support.

"She is nationally known as a voice for voting rights, for workers' rights and for marginalized people. The support of someone with that record of standing up for middle-income and working people is tremendously important," Weaver said in a statement emailed to POLITICO.

The Republican National Committee jumped on the news, sending out the Cleveland.com article Thursday afternoon in an email that started, “Guess somebody’s going on the ‘enemies list’ …”

