Why Elizabeth Warren's relative lack of endorsements might matter — and why it might not

Elizabeth Warren.
(Image credit: Zach Gibson/Getty Images)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is now firmly considered one of the frontrunners in the Democratic presidential primary. But she hasn't picked up many endorsements for elected officials yet. Even Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Cory Booker (D-N.Y.), who have faded in the polls, are ahead of Warren, per FiveThirtyEight's endorsement metrics. But it might not matter all that much.

First of all, it may just be too early. Despite Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) picking up some key endorsements from Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), the progressive wing of the Democratic Party could just be holding out. "For the faction of elected Democrats who want the party to move to the left, the fact that both Warren and Sanders are in the race and polling in the double digits makes it tough — and somewhat politically risky — to publicly choose between them at this point in the process," said David Hopkins, a political scientist at Boston College.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.