Obama endorsed by Nev. culinary workers

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- After his bruising second-place finish in the New Hampshire primary, presidential hopeful Barack Obama got a much-needed endorsement in Nevada Wednesday.

The Nevada Culinary Workers Union officially endorsed Obama, the Democratic senator from Illinois, in Las Vegas.

The endorsement came a day after the Service Employees International Union of Nevada endorsed the junior senator from Illinois in the Jan. 19 Nevada caucuses, The Washington Post's "The Trail" political blog reported.

D. Taylor, secretary treasurer of Culinary Workers Union Local 266 said the union is racially diverse, CNBC "First Read" blog reported.

"I have a lot of respect for those folks in Iowa and New Hampshire, but we're not just Wonder Bread, here," Taylor said. "We've got pumpernickel; we got whole wheat and we got rye."

The union, which boasts a membership of more than 60,000, is seen as a key endorsement in Nevada, a state where there are fewer than 500,000 registered Democrats, the Post blog reported.