Elizabeth Warren kicks off her Senate reelection bid

Elizabeth Warren is running for reelection.

The state’s senior senator made her third-term bid official in a two-plus-minute video posted to social media this morning. In it, Warren touts her accomplishments — a corporate minimum tax, over-the-counter hearing aids and canceling student loan debt (which remains stalled in court) among them. And she sets the tone for a punchy campaign by including quick testimonials from several people, including a man who used a bleeped expletive in the first 15 seconds.

She also lays out a progressive vision for the next six years that would largely require Democrats to retake and maintain full control in Washington to even begin to accomplish.

“I first ran for Senate because I saw how the system is rigged for the rich and the powerful and against everyone else,” Warren says in the clip.

“Now, I’m running for Senate again because there’s a lot more we’ve got to do: Pass a wealth tax. Make child care affordable. Protect our coastal communities. And build a 21st-century transportation system across all of Massachusetts,” she said. “Oh — and like I’ve been saying for years — put stricter rules on banks so they don’t crash and hurt working people.”

Warren has said she’s running for reelection for the better part of two years now. But her official announcement should go a long way in helping quell the persistent rumors that she might forgo such a bid to run for president again, take another shot at a Cabinet position, or, at 73, just step aside.

Warren hasn’t waged a campaign in Massachusetts since finishing third in the state’s 2020 presidential primary. And recent polls show mixed messages about her standing here.

A MassINC Polling Group survey from early February showed fewer than half of Massachusetts residents want Warren to seek another term. But support for her reelection bid is at 69 percent among Democrats. And a late-February Change Research poll conducted for Northwind Strategies shows Warren’s favorability at a whopping 83 percent among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. Both surveys were done before bank failures put Warren and her push for stronger oversight squarely back in the spotlight.

There’s no shortage of ambitious Democrats in this deep-blue state who dream of landing in Warren’s seat. But her launch video includes a cast of supporting characters that would be intimidating to potential challengers. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who’s widely expected to be a contender the next time a Senate seat opens up here, and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, a Warren protégé, both appear. So does Sen. Ed Markey, who says he’s running again in 2026.

Warren faces only nominal opposition at this point, from an Athol Republican-turned-Libertarian. Republicans are hunting for someone to challenge her. But that’s also likely to be a long shot with two of the GOP’s strongest potential contenders, former Gov. Charlie Baker and former Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, cashing in in the private sector after declining to seek third terms.