U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet is taking the final steps toward becoming the second Colorado Democrat in the 2020 race for president, with a possible announcement coming soon, sources familiar with his plan have told The Denver Post.
Craig Hughes, a longtime adviser, said a final decision has not been made.
“We’re making progress towards a decision and encouraged by what we are seeing and hearing,” Hughes said.
While an announcement is not imminent, Bennet could announce within a month, the Democratic sources said.
Bennet, Colorado’s senior senator, has been considering a run since the fall. However, his interest accelerated after he delivered a stinging rebuke of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on the Senate floor during the partial federal government shutdown. That speech catapulted Bennet into the national spotlight and fueled a trip to Iowa and later New Hampshire to meet with voters before making a final decision on a presidential run.
Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who shares a long history with Bennet, formally joined the race March 4 and participated in a CNN town hall Wednesday night. More than a dozen others — including Bennet Senate colleagues Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker — also are running.
The 2020 Democratic primary is the largest and most diverse in the party’s history. Both Hickenlooper and Bennet are entering the race as longshots. However, there is no clear front-runner, and voters in early nominating states have said they’re taking their time to decide.
Bennet was first appointed to his Senate seat in 2009 by then-Gov. Bill Ritter. He went on to win a nailbiter of an election in 2010 and was re-elected easily in 2016.
While in Washington, Bennet has had a low profile but is known to be a “workhorse” behind the scenes. He was instrumental in helping pass the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. And he worked hard to help rewrite the nation’s education laws in 2015. Bennet also was part of the so-called Gang of Eight, who wrote an immigration reform bill that won bipartisan support in the Senate before being blocked in the House.
While visiting with voters in Iowa, Bennet highlighted his work on the immigration bill to demonstrate his ability to work across the aisle. He also used it to shine a spotlight on what he wants to fix in Washington.
“We don’t have to settle for disgraceful politics. We don’t have to settle for being as terrible as Donald Trump,” he said. “We don’t have to settle for Freedom Caucus tactics — those guys are tyrants. We don’t have to accept that. In fact, we can’t and have this country be what this country really can be.”
