Elizabeth Warren Gearing Up For Senate Run, Announcement To Come Post Labor Day
WASHINGTON -- Former Obama adviser and longtime consumer protection advocate Elizabeth Warren is moving toward a Senate run, several Democratic sources tell the Huffington Post.
The Massachusetts resident and Harvard Law School professor authored a post for an influential progressive state-based blog on Thursday afternoon pledging that she would not "stop fighting for middle class families." The article prompted a slew of speculation that Warren was poised to take on sitting Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.).
Additional information relayed from Massachusetts Democratic sources suggest she's even more serious about launching a campaign. Warren is currently being assisted by two influential Democratic operatives in the state: Doug Rubin, the chief strategist for Gov. Deval Patrick's two successful statewide runs, and Kyle Sullivan, Patrick's press secretary for his first term. She has also begun making a series of calls to influential activists and party officials in the state, including one to the Massachusetts Democratic Party chairman John Walsh on Thursday, a Massachusetts Democrat tells the Huffington Post.
The current plan is to spend the "next few weeks listening to residents across Massachusetts, calling activists, party leaders and elected officials," the source relays. A final decision is expected after Labor Day.
All told, the signs point to a likely run by Warren, in what could quickly shape up to be one of the most closely watched Senate races in the cycle.
Warren recently stepped down as an adviser to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, amid speculation that Republicans in Congress would not confirm her for a permanent post with the organization she helped create. Her blog post on Thursday reflected on her work in setting up the agency while forecasting that her time in the political spotlight wasn't coming to an abrupt end.
“In the weeks ahead, I want to hear from you about the challenges we face and how we get our economy growing again,” she wrote in her post on Blue Mass Group. “I also want to hear your ideas about how we can fix what all of us — regardless of party — know is a badly broken political system.”
UPDATE: 6:00 p.m. -- A Democratic source adds a little more color to the decision making going on with Warren.
"She is spending several hours today making calls around the state, governor, lieutenant governor, congressional delegation, party leaders, and grassroots activists," the source emailed. "The calls will continue for the next couple of days so she can have as many personal conversations as possible. She will start traveling early next week doing one on one meetings, small group get togethers, all very casual."
As for why Warren waited until now to begin reaching out to state officials, the source noted that she was previously restricted from doing so under the Hatch Act: "She needed to completely wrap up her work [with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau] before starting to make Massachusetts political calls."
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First Posted: 08/11/11 06:37 PM ET Updated: 10/11/11 06:12 AM ET