Advertisement NH Primary Source: State Sen. Melanie Levesque, citing ‘proven leadership,’ endorses Joe Biden Voting rights advocate becomes third state senator to back former VP for president Share Shares Copy Link Copy

(New Hampshire Primary Source is a regular feature of WMUR.com on Thursday mornings, with frequent updates throughout the week.)>> Download the FREE WMUR appTHIRD STATE SENATOR FOR BIDEN. Former Vice President Joe Biden now has the most endorsements from New Hampshire state senators among the Democratic presidential candidates.WMUR has learned that Sen. Melanie Levesque of Brookline became the third senator to endorse Biden on Monday, citing his “experience and proven leadership.” She joins Sens. Lou D’Allesandro of Manchester and Martha Fuller Clark of Portsmouth in Biden’s camp.Levesque, a Nashua native, in 2018 became the first African American in state history to be elected to the state Senate. A former three-term member of the New Hampshire House, Levesque chairs the Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs Committee and serves on the Senate Judiciary and Transportation committees. She is an outspoken advocate on the voting rights issue and campaign finance reform. “We won't be able to win back the White House without galvanizing a broad and diverse coalition of voters,” Levesque said. “And we won't be able to make real change happen without winning up and down the ballot and across the country. With Joe Biden at the top of the ticket, we'll do both.”“This is not just an election year, it’s an election decade,” she said. “The leaders we elect will determine our trajectory for the next 10 years and beyond. It is critical that we choose leaders who will bring us together, get our country on track and reflect a country that is for all of us.“We need a leader who will ensure health care, protect our environment, advocate for education, reduce college debt and repair our standing in the world.“This election is too important to stand on the sidelines,” Levesque said. “If we want our democracy, we have to fight for it. As Granny D said, ‘Democracy is not something we have but something we do!’”Levesque heads a telecommunications service provider firm in Brookline. Her Senate District 12 includes Brookline, Greenville, Hollis, Mason, New Ipswich, Rindge and Nashua Wards 1, 2 and 5.She is the eighth of 14 Democratic state senators to make endorsements in the presidential campaign. No other candidate so far has more than two senators’ endorsements. Among Biden's high-profile supporters are former Gov. John Lynch; former U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter; Democratic National Committeeman Bill Shaheen and Obama 2008 and 2012 state co-chair Jim Demers.