Sen. Casey says he won’t run for president in 2020

Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) on Friday announced that he will not mount a bid for the White House in 2020.

In a statement, Casey accused President Trump of undermining key institutions in the U.S., casting a Democratic win in 2020 as crucial to protecting the country against an “erratic” president.

{mosads}“With all of these challenges confronting us and with our Commonwealth playing a potentially decisive role in the 2020 vote, I believed it was important for me to at least consider the monumental undertaking of running for President,” Casey said in a statement.

“After two months of considering it, I have concluded that the best way for me to fight for the America that so many of us believe in is to stay in the U.S. Senate and not run for the presidency in 2020.”

A likely crowded Democratic field has started forming in the last month with Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro all announcing bids for the White House.

Casey had been floated as a potential 2020 contender, especially after his successful reelection bid last year in a state that Trump carried narrowly in 2016.

Casey’s win in 2018 put him in the same league as other potential 2020 hopefuls, like Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who similarly won reelection last year in a state that has leaned more recently towards Republicans.

Casey, a former Pennsylvania state treasurer, said on Friday that he believed Democrats would nominate a presidential candidate capable of winning his home state and, ultimately, the White House.

“2020 is not the time for me to run for President, but it is the right time for me to continue to fight the battles I have fought as U.S. Senator and state official,” he said. “I have no doubt that our Democratic Party will nominate a candidate who can win Pennsylvania and the Presidency.”

A handful of other Democrats are expected to announce their 2020 intentions in the coming weeks and months, including former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

–Updated at 9:43 a.m.