Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg on Monday won an endorsement from The State, a newspaper based in Columbia, South Carolina, ahead of Saturday’s first-in-the-south primary.

The paper said in its endorsement that the Democratic Party has only won the presidency in the last half-century “when it has resisted the temptation to pick status-quo nominees and shown the courage to choose centrist outsiders with fresh, optimistic messages.”

The piece praised Mr. Buttigieg’s approach to health care in comparison to an “unrealistic” “radical overhaul” to the system that’s being championed by Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont.

“Buttigieg’s message of unity is an inspiring and empowering one, and it deserves to be supported,” the paper said.

The paper acknowledged Mr. Buttigieg’s struggles with African-American voters, but said his outreach to the black community appears to be genuine.

The paper said the endorsement came after interviewing eight other Democratic presidential candidates, but that Mr. Sanders would not agree to an interview.

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