WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has endorsed Eric Kingson in the Democratic primary for the 24th Congressional District seat in the Syracuse area.

Sanders, 74, announced his support for his fellow septuagenarian in a fundraising email sent to supporters Tuesday afternoon.



"I'm endorsing Eric Kingson for Congress in New York because he led the fight to protect Social Security, and I'm endorsing Paul Clements in Michigan because he can help unseat the leading climate change denier in Congress," Sanders wrote in his endorsement of the two candidates.

Kingson, 70, a Syracuse University professor from Manlius, is co-founder of the national group Social Security Works. He started the Strengthen Social Security Coalition, a group of more than 300 national and state organizations that want to strengthen and expand Social Security.

Kingson has gathered support from many of the same people in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party who support Sanders.

Several former "Syracuse for Sanders" campaign volunteers have also joined the Kingson campaign in recent weeks. But Kingson has been an underdog in the three-way race for the Democratic nomination in the 24th District.

Kingson said in an interview Tuesday that the Sanders email brought in more than $20,000 in contributions to his campaign from more than 3,800 people in the first few hours after its distribution.

Like Sanders, Kingson has refused to accept contributions from Wall Street and other corporate special interests through political action committees.

Colleen Deacon, 39, a former Central New York district director for U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, has received endorsements from most top Democrats in Washington and Central New York.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., joined Gillibrand at a campaign stop in Syracuse on Monday. In addition, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in Washington has put its weight behind Deacon.

A third candidate, Syracuse lawyer Steve Williams, 52, of Baldwinsville, has managed to raise more money than Kingson and pick up the support of a top Democrat in Congress -- U.S. Rep. Steve Israel, D-Long Island.

Watch Kingson's first campaign ad



Deacon and Williams have been able to use their campaign contributions to buy TV advertising that will stay on the air until the primary election on June 28. Kingson began running a more modest cable TV advertising campaign on Tuesday at a cost of about $5,000.

The winner of the Democratic primary will take on Rep. John Katko, R-Camillus, in the November election. The 24th Congressional District covers all of Onondaga, Cayuga and Wayne counties and the western half of Oswego County, including the cities of Fulton and Oswego.

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