Bernie Sanders' press secretary leaves campaign

WASHINGTON, June 27 (UPI) -- Bernie Sanders' press secretary says she has left the Vermont senator's presidential campaign.

Symone Sanders, no relation to the candidate, gave her notice last week and was off the staff Sunday.

"I just believe my time with the campaign has come to an end," she told CNN. "I'm very proud of the work we have done and am now looking forward to helping elect down-ballot Democrats and do all I can to ensure a Democrat is the 45th president of the United States."

Symone Sanders was hired in August 2015 as Bernie Sanders faced protests from Black Lives Matter activists. She said she has no other job lined up. She previously worked for the Coalition for Juvenile Justice.

"But there is so much work to be done and too much at stake in November for me to sit on the sidelines, she told Politico.

Symone Sanders introduced the senator during his large rallies and often appeared on cable and network news shows.

Since Hillary Clinton secured enough support to clinch the Democratic nomination, the Sanders campaign has been winding down.

Some top-level staffers remain and advance staffers organize events for the Vermont senator. He held two rallies in Albany and Syracuse, N.Y., last week.

Bernie Sanders, who said he plans to vote for Clinton but hasn't endorsed her, will fight for his policies to be incorporated in the platform leading up to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia next month.

He claimed some "very, very important victories" in the initial draft of the Democratic platform.

"We're going to take that fight to Orlando, where the entire committee meets in two weeks," he told CNN's Jake Tapper on State of the Union on Sunday. "And if we don't succeed there, then we'll certainly take it to the floor of the Democratic convention."