Democratic Field Could Get a Bit More Crowded

Sources say Deval Patrick could make announcement later this week
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 12, 2019 1:25 AM CST
Report: Deval Patrick Is Weighing White House Run
In this March 5, 2014 photo, President Obama, left, speaks with Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick upon arrival on Air Force One at Boston Logan International Airport in Boston.   (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

After ruling out a White House run late last year, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is now having second thoughts, insiders say. Sources tell the New York Times, among other outlets, that the Democrat believes there is room for a candidate who can unite both the liberal and moderate wings of the party and could make an announcement later this week. A friend tells Politico that top Democratic donors who are "terrified" of Elizabeth Warren and have doubts about Joe Biden have been reaching out to Patrick in recent weeks. "Deval wants this," the source says. "He regrets not having done it. His wife was ill. But since then, she has gotten better. But the field has gotten worse."

Patrick—the first black governor in Massachusetts history and the third in US history—served as governor from 2007 to 2015. The Chicago native also served as chief of the Justice Department's civil rights division under Bill Clinton, the Chicago Tribune reports. If he enters the race at the last minute, it will shake up the February primary in New Hampshire, where the deadline for filing to run is Friday. A Quinnipiac poll released Monday shows Biden at 20% in the state, followed by Warren at 16%, Pete Buttigieg at 15%, and Bernie Sanders at 14%. One of the Times' sources says Patrick told Biden last week that he was considering entering the race. (Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is also weighing a 2020 run, though polls show that he wouldn't make much of an impact.)

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