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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick’s 2020 presidential bid (all times local):
11:55 a.m.
Deval (deh-VAL') Patrick has filed for the New Hampshire presidential primary as he officially begins a last-minute 2020 campaign.
The former Massachusetts governor is hoping that his work in a neighboring state could help him in New Hampshire, home to the first-in-the-nation primary in February.
But that ambition may be stymied by the campaigns of two fellow New Englanders in the race, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who have routinely campaigned in the primary state throughout 2019.
Patrick filed on Thursday. Patrick begins his White House run lagging far behind in the campaign infrastructure enjoyed by his leading rivals in the race, who have spent the majority of this year building ground operations and earning endorsements in New Hampshire.
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7:20 a.m.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval (deh-VAL') Patrick is highlighting his poverty-stricken childhood as he enters the Democratic presidential race with an appeal to voters feeling the brunt of economic inequality. Patrick says he’s running for the “people who feel left out and left back.”
In a video announcing his candidacy Thursday, Patrick says he grew up on Chicago’s South Side, was raised in a two-bedroom tenement house and went to “a big, broken, overcrowded public school.” Patrick says his family was on welfare.
As the first in his family to go to college and law school, Patrick says he’s had a chance to live his “American Dream.” Patrick says over the years the “path to that dream” has closed off for others and the government and the economy are “letting us down.”
Patrick says the other candidates in the Democratic field bring “a richness of ideas” and “depth of character.” But he says the 2020 election is about “the character of the country.”
Patrick says the 2020 race is about “more than removing an unpopular and divisive leader.”
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6:35 a.m.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is making a late entry into the Democratic presidential race.
Patrick announced his bid Thursday in an online video.
Patrick made history as the first black governor of Massachusetts and has close ties to former President Barack Obama and his network of political advisers. But he faces significant fundraising and organizational hurdles less than three months before voting begins.
Patrick’s announcement comes as some Democrats worry about the strength of the party’s current field of contenders. Another Democrat — former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg — is also weighing a last-minute bid for the party’s nomination.
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12:05 a.m.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is telling allies he plans to seek the Democratic presidential nomination.
That’s according to a person with knowledge of his plans who spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
A Patrick bid would be a reversal for the popular two-term governor. He had earlier flirted with the idea of launching a White House bid before deciding late last year against jumping into the race, citing what he called the “cruelty” of the election process.
The 63-year-old Patrick, who made history as the state’s first black governor from 2007 to 2015, traveled across the country in support of Democratic candidates during the 2018 midterm elections. He is a close ally of former President Barack Obama.
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