(JTA) — Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel joined a group that is urging former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to run for president in 2016.
Emanuel, who is Jewish and a former White House aide to Presidents Obama and Bill Clinton, on Friday joined the Ready For Hillary group and will headline two fundraisers in June, Reuters reported.
His support comes less than a week after U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) also backed the effort for Hillary Clinton.
“I’ve seen firsthand how Hillary has inspired women and men, and girls and boys, here in America and across the globe, and I know that as president, she would continue to move our country forward,” Emanuel, also a former congressman, said in a statement from Ready For Hillary.
The group — a super PAC that voluntarily caps donations at $25,000 — is not officially affiliated with Clinton, who says she will decide whether to pursue the White House after November’s congressional elections. But it has the backing of numerous Democratic officials and donors.
Clinton, the secretary of state for four years under Obama, is considered a favorite to be the Democratic nominee in 2016 if she chooses to run again. Preliminary polling shows her leading other potential White House aspirants.
The former first lady and New York senator lost the hard-fought 2008 nomination battle to Obama, then an Illinois senator, and since has spoken openly about the difficulties of presidential campaigns.
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