Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) became the first big-name Democrat to stick her foot in the water in the race for the party’s presidential nomination, announcing on Monday that she is launching an exploratory committee in advance of a possible 2020 White House bid.

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Warren filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission so that she can start raising and spending money to benefit her likely candidacy, NBC News reported.

In emails and on social media, Warren asked supporters to join in fighting political corruption that “is poisoning our democracy” and to fight the “dark path” that she says is hurting the middle class and helping special interests.

Every person in America should be able to work hard, play by the same set of rules, & take care of themselves & the people they love. That’s what I’m fighting for, & that’s why I’m launching an exploratory committee for president. I need you with me: https://t.co/BNl2I1m8OX pic.twitter.com/uXXtp94EvY

— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) December 31, 2018

This is about how easy it will be for you. pic.twitter.com/TMBLQ08oaO

— Teddikins3 (@teddykinRN) January 1, 2019

https://twitter.com/Mcwills100/status/1080521235199598592

Please ma'am dont run, we need someone who can keep up with President Trump in the debates. He will destroy you in the debates. Maybe Harris.

— KW0311 (@KWW0311) January 2, 2019

Love it!

— Sovereign_Reign (@Sovereign_reign) January 1, 2019

She got my vote

— Damita-Jo (@rebelflower01) January 2, 2019

In her announcement, Warren railed against corporate influence in policymaking.

“Our government has been bought and paid for by a bunch of billionaires and giant corporations that think they get to dictate the rules that affect everyone,” she wrote in an email to supporters.

Warren has floated a series of ambitious policy proposals, prompting speculation that she was gearing up for a 2020 presidential run, Politico reported.

In August she unveiled anti-corruption legislation that she described as “the most ambitious … since Watergate.” Her proposed bill bans elected officials from lobbying for life, restricts stock ownership by lawmakers and Cabinet secretaries and would try to stop Americans from lobbying on behalf of foreign governments and companies.

 

Progressive lawmakers including Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have long been critical of the relationship between members of Congress and the business interests who lobby them, Washington Post reported. Corporations have skewed Congress’s perception of what the American public wants, according to a 2018 study published in the American Political Science Review.

The study polled congressional staffers in both parties and found that they believed the public was more conservative than they actually are on almost all issues surveyed, from gun control to environmental regulation to Obamacare. That may explain in part why Congress has often been willing to advance pro-business legislation despite strong opposition from the public, according to Washington Post. For example:

• Congress passed an unpopular tax cut for corporations while ignoring the public’s strong desire for an increase in taxes on the wealthy.
• It dragged its feet on federal minimum wage increases.
• Lawmakers have worked to undermine unions, even as research increasingly suggests they’re a key to middle-class prosperity.
• The White House has been dismantling environmental regulations at a time when the public wants those regulations to be even stronger.
• Many Democrats in Congress are skittish about supporting Medicare-for-all at a time when 70 percent of Americans tell pollsters they want it.

In April, Warren broke with the political establishment and called on the Israeli government to respect the rights of Palestinian protesters in Gaza, The Intercept reported:

(The move) signifies Warren’s personal evolution on the issue, as she has not always acknowledged Palestinian rights. In 2014, Warren more or less repeated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s talking points about the war in Gaza, defending Israel’s right to self-defense against Hamas, even as the military bombarded civilian infrastructure in Gaza. She also walked away when asked a question about Gaza at the liberal Netroots Nation conference that year.”

Speaking in August at Dillard, a historically Black university in New Orleans, Warren described the U.S. criminal justice system as “racist … I mean front to back.” During a Q&A session hosted by Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Cedric Richmond, Warren cited disproportionate arrests of African Americans for petty drug possession and state laws that keep convicted felons from voting after their sentences are complete.

Warren is making an effort “to forge ties beyond her largely white political base in Massachusetts and avoid the fate of fellow progressive icon Bernie Sanders, who struggled to win over African-Americans during his failed bid for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination,” according to the Associated Press.