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Merkley: I don't think senators will switch to Sanders

By Eliza Collins

Jeff Merkley is the only senator publicly supporting Bernie Sanders, and he predicts it could stay that way.

In an interview Monday on MSNBC, the Oregon Democrat — who endorsed Sanders last week — was asked whether he expects any endorsements from senators who had previously supported former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. All 47 Democratic senators also serve as superdelegates, and so far they are overwhelmingly supporting Clinton.

“I think everyone kinda cast their lot early on and rarely — they don’t change unless there’s something like a John Edwards blowup, and nobody is anticipating that in this case,” he said. “I think people’s positions are pretty set.”

Clinton has a commanding lead in the race, with 1,758 delegates to Sanders' 1,076 as they try to reach the 2,383 needed to clinch the nomination. Much of Clinton's advantage comes from superdelegates — she's leading the Vermont senator 469 to 31 on that front.

Sanders and his allies have called for superdelegates to vote with the will of the people rather than their own allegiances.

While Merkley didn’t see any of his fellow senators switching over as superdelegates, he did predict that others could make the move.

“Those who are not in elected office, the other superdelegates, they may be much more likely to switch sides. They don't have a public stance they've taken in quite the same way,” he said.