Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., speaks during a town hall, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020, in Perry, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

NASHUA – Despite being in Washington, D.C., to serve as a juror in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial and also having to run a large campaign ahead of the Iowa caucuses, Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota continues racking up New Hampshire endorsements.

Friday, New Hampshire Rep. Latha Mangipudi, D-Nashua, announced her support for Klobuchar. Previously, Mangipudi had supported Cory Booker of New Jersey, but he dropped out last week.

“We need a president who is committed to representing everyone, and I know Amy will make sure we all have a seat at the table,” Mangipudi said. “Amy is running to unite America around commonsense solutions to our problems, and she has the grit, strength, and hustle to make real progress. I’m proud to endorse her campaign.”

Klobuchar also counts New Hampshire Executive Councilor Debora Pignatelli of Nashua among her supporters.

Nevertheless, both national and New Hampshire polls show Klobuchar trailing top-tier Democratic contenders Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg by clear margins. Still, senator from Minnesota is working to make a significant push ahead of the Feb. 3 Iowa caucuses – and before New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary on Feb. 11.

Speaking of Iowa, some of Klobuchar’s potential supporters in the Hawkeye State this week got a pitch from the senator’s 24-year-old daughter.

“She actually has a record of winning in places Trump has won, Abigail Bessler said in delivering one of her mother’s well-worn lines. “When I talk to voters in New Hampshire, when I talk to people here … it’s just ‘Is she going to be able to beat Donald Trump?’ They want a candidate who is going to win, and I think she has the best record for proving that.”

The impeachment trial comes at a challenging time for Klobuchar. The three-term senator constructed her campaign on a strategy of a slow and steady build in Iowa. She spent campaign funds conservatively all year, hoping to be able to capitalize on a late surge just before the caucuses. A strong showing in Iowa, her campaign hopes, will catapult her into the top tier in New Hampshire and beyond.

In recent days, Klobuchar earned endorsements from The New York Times, which also endorsed Warren, and the Quad-City Times, one of Iowa’s largest newspapers. On Tuesday, she got the backing of a state senator who is a leading advocate for action on climate change, and two other state lawmakers who previously supported Booker and Beto O’Rourke of Texas, who have dropped out of the 2020 race. She picked up 14 more local endorsers on Wednesday, including two well-known Iowa Democratic activists who were previously with Kamala Harris of California, who quit the race last year.

Klobuchar maintains the breadth of her support shows she can bring together people from all political leanings and that the roster of well-known local supporters will provide crucial credibility and organizing support in her absence.

“I just have to hope that that kind of grassroots campaigning is going to last,” she said. “It’s not something where you just bring in one celebrity. It is built to last.”

For some Iowans, there is no substitute for personal contact with the candidate.

Iowa state Sen. Rob Hogg met with almost every presidential candidate to discuss their plans to address climate change before endorsing Klobuchar on Tuesday. He said he was sold on her record of attracting both progressive Democrats and independents, and is drawn to her pragmatic approach.

Klobuchar, 59, is running as a pragmatic progressive who can win over liberal and moderate Democrats as well as independents and some Republicans. She’s looking to pick up voters who backed other candidates, such as Booker and Harris, and convince moderates who may see Biden as too old and Buttigieg as too inexperienced that she’s what they’re looking for.

But after banking much of her campaign on Iowa, Klobuchar is still polling in fifth place there, with significant ground to make up if she’s going to knock out any of the top four and become the surprise of caucus night. The campaign believes a fourth-place finish would put her on strong footing heading into New Hampshire, where she also has invested significant money and time and has been seeing larger crowds than what she’s getting in Iowa.

From there, the electoral calendar gets much tougher. Klobuchar’s campaign got a late start in Nevada and South Carolina, and her low polling among black voters could be a big liability in South Carolina, where African-Americans make up roughly two-thirds of Democratic primary voters. She also has far less money in her campaign fund than her rivals do, which could make it difficult to compete in the “Super Tuesday” contests in places such as California and Texas on March 3 — if she makes it that far.

But first she must perform in Iowa, where Klobuchar’s campaign says even a fifth-place finish would be notable for a candidate who’s already outlasted other candidates, such as Harris, who were seen early on as having a much better shot. On Wednesday night, almost 12,000 Iowa voters participated in a telephone town hall with the senator, who was in Washington. Klobuchar is scheduled to be back in the state Sunday for three town halls.

And supporters say they’re seeing firsthand that interest in Klobuchar is growing. Vicky Rossander, a retired teacher who opened her home for Tuesday’s house party and will be a precinct captain for Klobuchar on caucus night, said several people mentioned The New York Times endorsement at a county Democratic meeting earlier this week.

“People were saying – ‘Wow, maybe we need to relook at her.'”

Newsletter