Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., said Thursday he wasn’t actively exploring a 2020 White House bid, despite earlier in the day offering reporters a vague response to questions about his presidential ambitions.
“Obviously, when you have a huge, consequential year like 2020 coming up, there’s a lot to consider in terms of a range of candidates and possibilities,” Casey told Politico, which first reported he was taking a more relaxed approach to weighing the pros and cons of entering the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. “So I want to be open to all possibilities.”
Earlier Thursday, Casey — who last week won re-election by double digits against Republican opponent Lou Barletta — gave NBC News a similarly speculative answer.
“We’ll see what happens,” he told the network. “It’s going to be a multicandidate field and that’s probably the biggest understatement. There’ll be a lot of variety in that field, so we’ll have to see what happens.”
If Casey were to launch a campaign, he would arguably have a home-turf advantage, given Pennsylvania was crucial in catapulting President Trump into the Oval Office. Casey, however, would likely face stiff competition from top-tier contenders that could include Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
Casey is Pennsylvania’s senior senator, having served the commonwealth in Washington, D.C., since 2006.
