Nicole Gaudiano

USA TODAY

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, one of Bernie Sanders’ top surrogates, says she’ll vote for Hillary Clinton in November.

The Hawaii Democrat told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, “Given the remaining choices, like Bernie Sanders, I will be casting my vote for Hillary Clinton.”

The newspaper characterized her support as “tempered” and wrote that she reiterated her concerns over the former secretary of State’s Middle East policies.

“Moving forward, as a veteran and someone who knows firsthand the cost of war, I am going to continue to push for an end to counterproductive interventionist wars and lead our country toward a path toward peace,” she said.

Gabbard, a veteran of two Middle East deployments, resigned her post as vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee in February to endorse Sanders, a Vermont senator. She said then, in a video, that America could elect “a president who will lead us into more interventionist wars of regime change or we can elect a president who will usher in a new era of peace and prosperity.”

She was one of three people who nominated Sanders for president during a speech last week at the Democratic National Convention, before Sanders moved to give Clinton the nomination by acclamation.

Gabbard becomes the latest of several prominent Sanders backers who have lined up behind Clinton. Comedian Sarah Silverman, a Sanders supporter, said during a convention speech that she would vote for Clinton “with gusto” and told the “Bernie or Bust” contingent, “You’re being ridiculous.”

Activist and professor Cornel West, meanwhile, endorsed Green Party candidate Jill Stein, saying she is “the only progressive” in the race.

Sanders, when asked what he would say to his supporters who are considering third party candidates, said “it’s a free country” and people have to make their own decisions.

“I certainly, as more than anybody in America, perhaps, understand politics outside of the Democratic and Republican parties,” Sanders told USA TODAY last month. “I have an obligation to worry about the future of the people of my state. I have a very strong feeling that if Donald Trump is elected president, it will be a disaster for people in my own state and for people in the other 49 states. So that’s my choice. People make other choices.”