After more than a year of open speculation from supporters, pundits and democratic party insiders alike, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is expected to formally announce her bid for the 2020 election in the coming week, according to Politico.
The announcement, teased in an Instagram post by the Senator’s official account, told supporters to ready themselves for a major announcement on Sunday, February 9th.
“One month ago today, we launched this presidential exploratory committee to build a grassroots movement to level the playing field for working people,” Warren wrote. “Since then, we’ve traveled to Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Puerto Rico, & heard from thousands of people all across the country.
Though Warren may seem late to the fray, hers was the first campaign to launch an exploratory bid for the Oval Office. While California Senator Kamala Harris has taken up the lion’s share of headlines after announcing her bid to a crowd of 20,000 in Oakland, Calif., New York Senator Kirsten Hillibrand has also announced a bid. New Jersey Senator and former Newark Mayor Corey Booker, along with former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro and former Vice President Joe Biden could soon join what many expect to be a crowded primary race in the coming weeks and months.
Warren, the Harvard Law professor emeritus and outspoken critic of Donald Trump and Wall Street, will have more than her fair share of ground to make up en route to the presidency. Beyond the loudmouth in the West Wing, Warren’s heritage has long been a point of confusion for detractors and supporters alike. Having long held fast to a claim of Cherokee ancestry, she’s spoken of it for years on campaign trails. Trump once offered her a reward of $1 million to prove her heritage with a DNA test. Despite a genetic analysis that pointed to a Cherokee ancestor, the Cherokee Nation wasn’t buying it.
“Using a DNA test to lay claim to any connection to the Cherokee Nation or any tribal nation, even vaguely, is inappropriate and wrong,” said Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. “It makes a mockery out of DNA tests and its legitimate uses while also dishonoring legitimate tribal governments and their citizens, whose ancestors are well documented and whose heritage is proven.”
Though Warren may not have sufficiently proven her heritage, her campaign is ready to prove her fitness for the office of the presidency.