Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, who has been stuck in third place in national polls, picked up a key endorsement late Tuesday from the Service Employees International Union local in the early primary voting state of New Hampshire.
 
The former North Carolina senator already received the endorsements from SEIU locals in 11 other states including the other major early primary state of Iowa as well as the big union states of Michigan and California.
 
First reported by NBC News’ First Read, the backing by the State Employees’ Association (SEIU local 1984) will provide Edwards more muscle to try to win supporters in New Hampshire as he tries to close the nearly 30-point gap between he and front runner Sen. Hillary Clinton there.

“John Edwards’ commitment to guaranteeing universal health care, the work he has done standing shoulder-to-shoulder with organized labor and his strength as the candidate who can win the general election next year and bring a pro-union, pro-working family agenda to the White House have earned him this critical support in New Hampshire,” Edwards’ New Hampshire state director Beth Leonard said in a statement posted on his Web site.

Photo credit: Reuters/Brian Snyder (Edwards files for the New Hampshire primary on Monday.)