Indiana superdelegate Andre Carson backs Barack Obama

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana congressman and Democratic superdelegate Andre Carson is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for president.

Carson is the first of Indiana’s five U.S. House Democrats to announce support for a presidential candidate. Superdelegates could determine who gets the nomination in the tight race between Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Carson says Obama represents a new generation of leadership who will fight for hardworking Americans.

Carson was elected in a March special election to fill out the remainder of his late grandmother’s term. He faces three serious challengers in the state’s May 6 primary.

Indiana has 13 superdelegates who are free to vote as they wish at the Democratic convention, plus 72 pledged delegates determined by the primary.