Harvard Law Professor and former Obama Administration official Elizabeth Warren announced last week that she will test the political waters for a possible U.S. Senate run against incumbent Republican Scott Brown. She expects to make her decision shortly after Labor Day, spending the next few weeks meeting with state Democratic Party leaders and key activist groups.
Although she was the chief architect of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Warren didn’t get the nod from President Obama to serve as the agency’s first director—the job went instead to former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray—apparently because she was seen as too politically controversial to secure Senate confirmation. What is controversial on Capitol Hill—Warren’s record of outspoken criticism of Wall Street in the aftermath of the 2007 financial crisis and her tough-minded work as chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)—has made her a hero to progressives.
While the left wing in Massachusetts may cheer her possible candidacy, Warren will have her work cut out for her if she dives into the Democratic primary, for which there are already seven announced candidates, including Newton Mayor Setti Warren (no relation) and fellow Harvard alum Robert Massie.
Congressman Brown, whose win over Democratic candidate Attorney General Martha Coakley in the 2010 special election to replace the late Ted Kennedy rocked the national Democratic establishment, was quick to paint Warren as both a non-native to Massachusetts (she was born in Oklahoma) and a favorite among Washington liberals. Public statements from the state Republican Party similarly described Warren as “a militant liberal.”
Chief among Warren’s supporters is EMILY’s List, a national fundraising group whose mandate is to support female candidates for political office who are pro-choice. EMILY’s List president Stephanie Schriock said she was “thrilled” at the prospect of a Warren for Senate campaign, adding “Elizabeth is strong, smart, and a dedicated fighter for working Americans. We’d love to see her take her talents to the U.S. Senate.
