HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey endorsed Joe Biden for president, just minutes after the former vice president entered the crowded 2020 race.

Casey touted Biden as a fighter for the middle class who can beat President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania if Biden becomes the Democratic nominee.

Casey’s father, the late former Gov. Robert P. Casey, knew Biden and Casey himself spent two years in the Senate with Biden before the Delaware senator went on to become vice president under President Barack Obama.

Biden is backed by Philadelphia party elders, including former Gov. Ed Rendell, who once called Biden “Pennsylvania’s third senator” because of his willingness to help Democrats in the state when Pennsylvania had two Republican senators.