After Warren Drops Out, Local Progressive Pols Go All In For Bernie

Last Thursday, Senator Elizabeth Warren announced she was dropping out of the 2020 presidential race. Her campaign spoke about a two-cent wealth tax, universal childcare, canceling student loan debt for 43 million Americans, reducing the racial wealth gap, breaking up big tech, and expanding Social Security.

After the results of Super Tuesday, the biggest day of the 2020 primaries, Warren came in third with only 41 delegates, the New York Times reported. Joe Biden was at the top with 566, and Bernie Sanders came in second with 495.

“I want to start with the news. I want all of you to hear it first, and I want you to hear it straight from me: Today, I’m suspending our campaign for president,” Warren told her supporters. “I know how hard all of you have worked. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you for everything you have poured into this campaign.”

As of this writing, Warren has not endorsed any of the remaining candidates.

“I think I would have made a better president than either one of them, that’s why I was running,” Warren said in an interview with the Boston Globe. “I thought it was worth fighting for another approach.”

The Working Families Party that had supported Warren endorsed Sanders today and progressive Brooklyn lawmakers have been quick to speak up of their support for Sanders since she dropped out.

Councilmember Brad Lander, representing District 39 serving Cobble Hill and Park Slope and other neighborhoods, was proud to support Warren’s campaign, and “to have been part of her compassionate, smart, progressive, diverse, hardworking team,” he wrote on Twitter.

“Now, to continue those struggles for justice, I’m enthusiastically endorsing @BernieSanders for President,” he continued. “His commitment to movement-building, fiercely combating inequality, and transforming our democracy away from power & privilege, toward the people make him my clear choice.”

Councilmember Justin Brannan, representing District 43 serving Bay Ridge and Southern Brooklyn, went live on WBAI New York to speak about endorsing Bernie Sanders last Thursday. A longtime Bernie supporter, Brannan told us why he endorses his candidacy.

“I endorsed my fellow Brooklynite, Bernie Sanders, because he has fought for the little guy his entire career. I represent a working middle-class district in Brooklyn, made up of families that have been here for generations and families that just got here yesterday,” Brannan told us. “Across the board, my constituents need a president who is committed to building a country that works for all of us, not just the wealthy and the well-connected. Bernie has built a movement that has united working people across racial, class, and political divides and that is precisely the kind of leadership our country needs in a president right now.”

Councilmember Antonio Reynoso, representing the 34th District serving parts of Bushwick and Williamsburg, also had fond things to say about Warren’s campaign, however, has not endorsed a candidate yet and told us he has “no comment” at the time.

“Proud to have been a part of the @ewarren campaign,” he wrote on Twitter. “Met many great folks fighting for a better America. Looking forward to using this same energy to defeat the embarrassment at the White House!”

Mayor Bill De Blasio had endorsed Bernie Sanders on February 14th, despite going with Hillary Clinton the last time: