Gay Rights Group Plans to Announce Senate Endorsements

The nation's largest gay rights organization is planning to make an announcement on Monday naming its endorsements for key U.S. Senate races. At the same time, the group plans to launch what it calls an "unprecedented nationwide campaign" to get out the vote this fall.

At the launch, Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese will be joined by Democratic strategist Paul Begala, a Hillary Clinton supporter and former Clinton administration adviser. But HRC spokesman Trevor Thomas told U.S. News that the organization will not make a presidential endorsement until the Democratic primary season is over.

HRC, in this campaign's first major effort to mobilize gay and progressive voters, will target its 700,000 members as well as more than 5 million other voters in key battleground races. The goal? To elect "pro-civil rights leaders," they said.

HRC represents the interests of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Americans.

—Liz Halloran