COLTON – One of the few California Democrats in Congress who didn’t endorse Hillary Clinton for president earlier this year, Rep. Norma Torres, D-Pomona, threw her support behind the former secretary of state Sunday as she helped open the Inland Empire’s first campaign office.

Torres, whose district stretches east to Rialto and Bloomington, gave a brief speech explaining her decision to the more than 50 people who gathered for the opening and then joined in making phone calls to encourage people to vote for Clinton.

Clinton built a massive early lead among superdelegates — elected officials and others who account for about 15 percent of the delegates in the Democratic primary, with the rest pledged based on primary or caucus votes — including early endorsements from three of the four superdelegates in the Inland Empire, who are all members of Congress.

Sixty-two of California’s 70 superdelegates have said they will vote for Clinton, with eight undeclared and none supporting Bernie Sanders as of Friday, according to the Associated Press.

Torres, the lone Inland Empire hold-out until last week, said Sunday that she wanted to let the community have its say first.

But she said she was convinced by the need for Democrats to rally together to defeat Republican nominee Donald Trump and to elect other Democrats to fight for progressive ideas — something she said Clinton had proven herself more willing and able to do than her Democratic opponent, Bernie Sanders.

“When I was in the state Senate, we could work with the Republicans, to some extent,” Torres said. “That’s not the case in Congress. We need a candidate who is vested and understands it’s not just about winning the presidency, it is about winning the Senate and winning back the House of Representatives.”

Torres added that the first ballot she cast for president was for Bill Clinton — after being energized by California’s Proposition 187, in which a majority of California voters voted to deny benefits including education to immigrants in the state illegally. The law never went into effect because of court challenges, and it was eventually found unconstitutional.

“That’s the same rhetoric and the same hatred that we’re seeing now,” Torres said, “and we need to stop it.”

Some volunteers said they were passionate about electing Clinton.

“I support Hillary because, first of all, she’s the smartest and most experienced, all those things,” said Pat Eickman, 69, of Riverside. “But I also think of her as the first woman president. … My daughter has one of those ‘woman cards’ Trump talks about, and I want her to see that.”

Other volunteers, though, said they were there to help Democrats generally.

“It’s not (Clinton), particularly, but I want to support the Democratic nominee,” said Michael Tesauro, 29, a Redlands resident who previously did phone banks for Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-San Bernardino. “She’s going to be the nominee. I want to put my energy into the general election and stopping Trump.”

Aguilar, a Clinton supporter who represents the Colton area in Congress, was not present Sunday.