Civil Rights Activists: Vote Now to Confirm Lynch as AG

Senate leaders should immediately call for a vote to confirm Loretta Lynch as attorney general, national civil rights activists urged Saturday.

The National Action Network, the NAACP, the National Urban League and other groups announced their campaign in New York, with the Rev. Al Sharpton saying they'll go to the Washington offices of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell every day until he calls a vote.

"We're not asking for favors; we're not asking for backroom deals. Call the vote," Sharpton said, prompting a chant of "Call the vote" from a crowd gathered for the National Action Network convention.

Lynch appears to have a narrow majority in her quest to succeed Attorney General Eric Holder and become the first black woman to hold the job. McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, has said sex trafficking legislation must be cleared before the confirmation vote can be held.

"Loretta Lynch now has 51 publicly committed votes, which means she has all the votes to be confirmed," said National Urban League President Marc Morial. "So when we say call the vote, we know that the vote is going to be yes in favor of Loretta Lynch."

The Greensboro, North Carolina, native has overseen bank fraud and public corruption cases in her current post as the U.S. attorney for New York's Eastern District, which includes Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island.

During her first tenure in the Eastern District, during the Clinton administration, Lynch helped prosecute police officers who severely beat and sexually assaulted Haitian immigrant Abner Louima.