ANN ARBOR, MI – Jeff Irwin, the Democratic state senator representing Ann Arbor and most of eastern Washtenaw County, didn’t plan to endorse a presidential candidate before Michigan’s Tuesday, March 10 primary election.

He liked the ideas of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, he said when asked by the Ann Arbor News/MLive in February about who he supported.

But now, as Warren has dropped out and the race has essentially winnowed to Sanders and Joe Biden, Irwin is endorsing Sanders.

“We need a candidate who has a consistent, compelling message that touches the needs of real people,” Irwin said in a Facebook live stream Friday from the Diag, on the University of Michigan campus.

Irwin said he believes Sanders gives Democrats their best chance at beating President Donald Trump.

Sanders stands for issues Democrats value most, Irwin said – like that health care should be considered a human right, economies should work for working people and the environment should be sustained future generations.

"Our land, our air and our water is for the people, not for the powerful," Irwin said in the live stream.

Sanders himself is coming to the Diag on Sunday, March 8, for a rally. The event is free and open to the public. People can get in starting at 4:30 p.m. and the rally begins at 6 p.m.

Washtenaw County turned out for Sanders in the 2016 presidential primary, as he earned nearly 55 percent of the vote nearly 10,000 votes more than Democrat Hillary Clinton. His margin of victory statewide was less than 19,000.

Most Ann Arbor-area officials supported Warren or Sanders, when asked in February.

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