Yesterday former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, one of the Democratic presidential candidates, said he supports a $15 an hour national minimum wage.
“I strongly support the national movement to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, because it will lift millions of families out of poverty and create better customers for American businesses,” the Democratic candidate for president said in a statement.
“Some people will say this is hard to do,” he said. “And it will be. But leadership is about forging public consensus — not following it.”
“On this issue, we must lead with our progressive values to rebuild the American Dream,” O’Malley added.
O’Malley’s support for a $15 an hour minimum wage leaves Hillary Clinton as the lone Democratic presidential candidate who hasn’t publicly come out in support of a $15 minimum wage, as Sen. Bernie Sanders has already said he supports that kind of increase in the minimum wage.