A powerful Minnesota progressive group has endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders in the state's upcoming Democratic presidential primary.

TakeAction Minnesota announced its backing for the Vermont senator on Wednesday morning. The group said it's the first time they have endorsed a candidate for president of the United States.

"We are excited to build with a candidate who is already investing in our multiracial, working class movement to take on corporate power in our democracy and do politics better," said Elianne Farhat, the group's executive director. "Bernie's politics are rooted in human dignity and justice."

TakeAction is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit group that bills its work as community organizing, coalition building, policy research and development, public education and civic engagement. It has 6,000 dues-paying members, a network of 20 institutional members that includes labor, social justice and other progressive groups, and a mailing list of some 50,000 people.