Deval Patrick has only run for one office in his political career: governor of Massachusetts, where he served for two terms from 2007 to 2015. | Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Patrick plans 2020 decision by end of the year

Former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is inching closer toward deciding on a 2020 presidential run.

The former two-term Democrat plans to hit the campaign trail in a handful of races around the country this fall, which would “help him sort it out by the end of the year,” said John Walsh, a close adviser who managed Patrick’s 2006 insurgent gubernatorial campaign and later headed up his leadership PAC.


“He’s really thinking about running but hasn’t decided yet,” Walsh, who frequently speaks with the former governor, told POLITICO.

Patrick’s public visibility has increased since saying on a Kansas City radio station on Feb. 28 that a presidential run is “on my radar screen.” But he’s not yet actively working the midterm election circuit because of restrictions related to his position at investment firm Bain Capital.

Patrick’s spokesman Doug Rubin would not confirm Patrick’s plans.

Patrick has only run for one office in his political career: governor of Massachusetts, where he served for two terms from 2007 to 2015. But he has been encouraged by members of President Barack Obama’s inner circle to run for president.

While the former governor has been out of office for more than three years, he was one of a handful of surrogate campaigners for Democrat Doug Jones against Republican Roy Moore in the December Alabama Senate special election.

Patrick and Sessions had faced off in court in 1985, when Patrick was a member of the defense team in a federal criminal voter fraud case against three African-American community activists; Sessions served as the U..S Attorney for the Southern District.

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Walsh called Patrick’s time on the campaign trail in Alabama “helpful” in fueling his interest in returning to the political arena. With the Alabama special election’s outcome, Walsh said, “It certainly didn’t dissuade him.”

Patrick sat for an interview in Boston in late May with the popular liberal podcast “Pod Save America” where he discussed his 2006 gubernatorial bid, his time campaigning in Alabama and the need for the Democratic Party to open up to outsiders.

“It was so much fun. I was in places I had spent time in before, in Selma and Birmingham … going back to my days litigating Jeff Sessions way back when. Yes indeed,” he said.

When asked about his 2020 intentions, Patrick was reluctant to go into detail during the podcast, replying, “I see our time is up! Thank you all for coming.”

He later added that “I am very focused on 2018 and I am going to be consistent with my day job. I’m going to try to be active on 2018 and I’ve been asked by a number of candidates to be involved … I think it’s all hands on deck right now and there’s lots and lots of different ways to serve. Looking ahead to 2020, there’s a lot of great people in that field and I’m watching that too, watching to see who’s in and how I can be helpful.”