Since her New Year’s Eve exploratory launch, Sen. Elizabeth Warren held 15 campaign events organized by her campaign team, which itself was built out over a period of two years. | Scott Eisen/Getty Images 2020 elections Warren flexes muscles with campaign kickoff tour 'There’s no question Warren is out front of the rest in terms of organization,' says former Barack Obama strategist David Axelrod.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is preparing a robust launch to her presidential campaign in her home state of Massachusetts next week, followed by a six-state, cross-country tour that will take her to four early presidential states, key Southern states and delegate-rich California, where an early primary is becoming an critical calculation to 2020 Democratic aspirants.

Warren’s launch announcement is set to take place in Lawrence, Mass., on the steps of Everett Mills, the site of the 1912 “Bread and Roses Strike” in which thousands of women walked off their factory jobs to protest poor working conditions and low wages.


Her event isn’t expected to match California Sen. Kamala Harris’ eye-popping 20,000-strong crowd in Oakland, Calif., last week.

COUNTDOWN TO 2020 The race for 2020 starts now. Stay in the know. Follow our presidential election coverage. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

But Warren’s flexing organizational muscle so far has been unmatched by other 2020 contenders. With an immediate tour of six more states after her launch, Warren is set to showcase an itinerary of events that put her in front of captive audiences where she interacts with voters, sometimes snapping photos afterward for more than an hour.

Since her New Year’s Eve exploratory launch, Warren held 15 campaign events organized by her campaign team, which itself was built out over a period of two years leading up to her announcement.

“There’s no question Warren is out front of the rest in terms of organization,” former Obama strategist David Axelrod said. “She has scored some of the prized early-state organizers, is doing the kind of campaigning one has to do in the early states, and this follows a 2018 in which she was probably more active than any other candidate in contacting and assisting voters. It’s not determinative but it’s meaningful.”

Warren’s ability to get off the ground early was bolstered by more money — $12.5 million to start — than Senate colleagues who, like Warren, won reelection in 2018 while considering a White House bid. And Warren’s early start allowed her to lock down top-flight staff, especially in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Within four days of her soft launch, Warren had appeared before more than 3,000 people in Iowa. And last week, she drew more than 1,000 people to a campaign event in Columbia, S.C..

At each of those stops, Warren’s aides collect information from prospective voters, whom the campaign contacts later by phone, email or both.

“In a crowded field, whoever can out-organize and out-mobilize with boots-on-the-ground supporters would absolutely have an edge,” said Dave Jacobson, a national Democratic strategist who worked in the field for Hillary Clinton in Iowa in 2008. Jacobson said Barack Obama employed a staff-heavy, grassroots campaign while Clinton attempted a more “nationionalized” approach.

“It was so stark — the Clinton team’s ability vs. the Obama team’s ability to turn people out,” he said.

