BOSTON—Gov. Deval Patrick organized fellow Barack Obama supporters Tuesday, a week before the state's presidential primary election.
The Democratic governor, who campaigned for Obama in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, hosted dozens of elected officials at his campaign headquarters in Boston.
Massachusetts voters go to the polls next Tuesday in what figures to be a defining day in the Democratic and Republican races. More than 20 states are holding primaries and caucuses on "Super Tuesday."
Many Democrats in Massachusetts are split between Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
"It's an uphill battle, no doubt about it," Patrick said. "We don't have the same claim to the political establishment as Sen. Clinton, so we're going to be doing a lot of work in a short period of time."
Meanwhile, one of Clinton's top supporters in Massachusetts spoke out Tuesday. Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, said she's disappointed that so many male elected officials, including Sens. Edward Kennedy and John Kerry, are supporting Obama.
Patrick said, "I don't think this is any more about gender, than it is about race."
