Former NAACP head to endorse Bernie Sanders for president

Ben Jealous is one of several black leaders to endorse the campaign in recent weeks

The youngest person to ever head the NAACP endorses Bernie Sanders for president. (Justin Sullivan/Getty)

The youngest person to ever head the NAACP will endorse Bernie Sanders for president.

Former NAACP head Ben Jealous plans to make his announcement before next Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, reps from Sanders’ campaign told CNN on Thursday.

His rival, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, is relying on the support of minority voters in the upcoming Nevada and South Carolina primaries.

On Tuesday, Mr Sanders gained his fifth endorsement from a state lawmaker in South Carolina. Representative Joe Neal of Richland County said that he's impressed with Mr Sanders' platform to help restore the middle class.

“He is the candidate that is speaking to the need and situation that confronts middle America today,” he said, according to the Post and Courier. “It is because of his position on helping the middle class with education and health care, Social Security, those issues that are so important to every day working people in this country.”