Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren officially announces presidential bid

FILE ART- en. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks at the National Press Club August 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. Warren spoke on ending corruption in the nation's capital during her remarks. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren entered the 2020 presidential contest, after making the official announcement on Saturday.

Political analysts say she is hoping a populist call to fight economic inequality will help distinguish her in a crowded field and enable her to move past the controversy surrounding her past claims to Native American heritage.

She made the announcement at a mill site in Lawrence, Massachusetts, where largely immigrant factory workers went on strike about 100 years ago, providing the longtime consumer advocate a forum to advance her platform.

In a video released before the event, Warren cited Lawrence's "history of working people coming together to make change, where the fight was hard, the battle was uphill, and where a group of women led the charge for all of us."

The 69-year-old was scheduled to later visit New Hampshire, home to the nation's first primary, where Warren could have an advantage as a neighboring-state resident with high name recognition.

She intended to spend Sunday in Iowa, where the leadoff caucuses will be the first test of candidates' viability.

Warren was the first high-profile Democrat to signal interest in running for the White House, forming an exploratory committee on New Year's Eve.

She was introduced by Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass., who endorsef her candidacy.

The backing could prove valuable for Warren given his status as a rising young Democratic star and his friendship with her potential 2020 rival, former Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas.


Warren has spent the past decade in the national spotlight, first emerging as a consumer activist during the financial crisis.

She later led the congressional panel that oversaw the 2008 financial industry bailout.

After Republicans blocked her from running the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency she helped create, she ran for the Senate in 2012 and unseated a GOP incumbent.

She has $11 million left over from her commanding 2018 Senate re-election victory that can be used on her presidential run.

Still, Warren would compete against other popular Democrats who will be able to raise substantial money.

A recent poll found that fewer Democrats said they'd be very likely to support Warren if she runs, compared to former Vice President Joe Biden or Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Still, about as many Democrats said they'd be at least somewhat likely to support Warren, compared to Harris or Sanders.