Sen. Casey Ending His Consideration For 2020 Presidential Run
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HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP/KDKA) -- U.S. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania is ending any consideration of joining a potentially crowded Democratic field running for president in 2020.
Casey's statement Friday comes a couple months after he dropped hints that he was considering a run, fresh off easily winning a third term in the Senate.
The mild-mannered 58-year-old son of the late governor had said he was concerned about a Democratic nominee winning Pennsylvania. The state was crucial to President Donald Trump's capturing the White House.
He told KDKA's Jon Delano last November:
Delano: "Are you saying then that you've not taken off the table the possibility of you running for president?"
Casey: "I would never do that, Jon. You always want to keep everything on the table. It's an important year. I wish I could say we're only going to have three or four candidates and make it easy. We're going to have 15 or 20 or 25."
Delano: "And why shouldn't you be one of them?"
Casey: "Because you have to win Pennsylvania, so who would be the strongest candidate that we could nominate to win Pennsylvania? That could be a number of people."
Delano: "Could that be you?"
Casey: "We'll see. We'll see."
But now Casey's saying he has "no doubt" that the Democratic Party will nominate a candidate who can win Pennsylvania and the presidency.
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