Backyard brawl
Warren’s struggles put Mass. ‘in play’ on Super Tuesday
Elizabeth Warren’s weak performances in Iowa and New Hampshire have put Massachusetts into play in the race for the Democratic nomination, according to operatives and supporters of rival campaigns that are staffing up and mobilizing droves of volunteers as they look to dent her home-state advantage in the Super Tuesday primary.
Warren sits a distant third in the delegate race that will decide the party’s presidential nominee, behind former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, but ahead of U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Still, her competitors see Warren’s dismal outings in Iowa and New Hampshire as signs of softening support. They’re now gearing up to make significant plays for the Bay State, which will award 91 delegates on March 3, the fifth-most in the Super Tuesday slate.
“Absolutely, yes, we’re fighting for the state,” said Rosemary Boeglin, Sanders’ northeast press secretary. “We think that we have a path there and we’re going to do everything we can to get the votes of Bay Staters.”
Tess Whittlesey, a Buttigieg campaign spokeswoman, said Massachusetts is “a state we’ve been playing heavily in through our volunteer network for a long time now. It’s one of the reasons we’re so excited to get boots on the ground.”
Warren surrogates dismissed her rivals’ comments, saying the senator retains a wealth of support.
“Of course they want to say that about her home state. They want to undermine her confidence. But it’s just not true,” said Marjorie Decker, D-Cambridge. “There’s a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of support and it’s deep.”
Warren “clearly has the deepest and widest breadth of support here,” said Boston City Councilor Matt O’Malley. “We know Elizabeth, we love Elizabeth and she’s going to win the primary.”
Warren is staking her campaign on Super Tuesday, when 1,357 of the 3,979 pledged delegates will be up for grabs. So far she has eight of the 1,991 delegates needed to win the nomination.
Campaign strategy memos say Warren’s vast network of more than 1,000 staffers in 31 states and Washington, D.C., will give her a boost.
But Democratic strategist Scott Ferson said Warren’s rivals only need 15% support to win delegates here, and her poor showing thus far “definitely puts Massachusetts in play.”
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is among those pouring resources into Massachusetts, with six offices and 56 staffers, including 45 field operatives, his campaign said.
“Elizabeth Warren has a lot of support here and so does Joe Biden,” said former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, who is now leading Bloomberg’s campaign here. But as people “start thinking about who can beat Trump, I really think Bloomberg becomes an attractive candidate.”
Biden is a frequent fundraiser here, has a campaign office in Quincy and has more than 90 Massachusetts endorsers, including former Secretary of State John Kerry, U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch and former presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton.
Buttigieg has also profited in Massachusetts and has drawn large crowds to his public appearances here. The campaign is putting four staffers in the state to help organize a network of roughly 3,700 volunteers.
And Sanders — who narrowly lost Massachusetts to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016 — announced seven state cochairs this week following an office opening near Nubian Square, plus a state political director and field director.
“Certainly for the Bernie campaign it’s much more in play,” said Anna Callahan, one of roughly 150 Sanders supporters who braved the bitter cold Saturday for a Boston Common rally-turned-canvass launch. “Now that Warren is doing less well in the polls and seems less electable, I think that leans very strongly in favor of Bernie.”
State Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton, one of Sanders’ co-chairs, said, “I have a lot of respect for Sen. Warren and if she has a great turnaround, I’m going to be genuinely happy for her. But at the same time, I think it does give people pause.”
Warren’s supporters cite her extensive ground game, which includes field offices in Cambridge and Northampton, and her enthusiastic volunteers as signs of strength. Her campaign did not respond to requests for comment or for updated staff and volunteer numbers.
“I’m seeing firsthand the grassroots support she’s built and earned across the state the last decade,” Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, said in a statement. “Elizabeth has the kind of support in Massachusetts that can’t be built or bought in a few weeks.”