4 MA Political Names You Should Get Used To Hearing About

The midterms are behind us, but there is no rest for the weary. Even those weary of politics.

It seems like everyone's gaze is already on the 2020 election, when Democrats will have to decide who has the best chance to beat President Donald Trump. There's other work at hand, too, as the Democrats wrestled control of the House last week.

Here are four current and former Massachusetts politicians you'll likely be hearing a lot about over the next couple of years. Click the accompanying links to get a deeper read on them.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren

She's still the big fish in our Massachusetts pond. Much has been written on the rumors of Warren's looming 2020 bid, starting long before she said she'll be taking a "hard look" at a presidential run.

Her tit-for-tat rivalry with Trump sometimes calls for a healthy dose of eye-rolling insults. It was the president's constant "Pocahontas" trolling that drove Warren to get a DNA test, which only served to further muddy the debate over her ancestry. A month later, there is still no clear winner in Warren's decision to release the results.

>>>From Boston.com: Is Elizabeth Warren Running In 2020? Here Are All The Signs

Warren is considered by some to be the favorite for the Democratic 2020 nod. If the Democrats decide a full-on progressive push is the best path to the White House, she could be their woman.

If they decide to defang the anti-Warren rebuttals from Republicans and got with a different approach, they could look to...

Former Gov. Deval Patrick

Patrick's name is beginning to pop up here and there, but his national recognition still pales in comparison to other rumored Democratic candidates, including Warren.

He's well known enough in Massachusetts, where he was governor from 2007 to 2015. Bay State residents asked in a recent Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll preferred a Patrick run for president over Warren.

Former President Barack Obama's inner circle has reportedly pushed for his friend to run against Trump in the past. It was reported Monday that Michelle Obama met with Patrick's wife to nudge him toward embracing the prospect.

>>>From The New Yorker: Deval Patrick's Presidential Prospects

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal

No presidential aspirations here, but get used to hearing Neal's name.

Neal has been a member of the House for nearly three decades, currently representing the 1st congressional district in Western Mass. Now that Democrats are in control of the lower chamber again, he is poised to take over as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee come January.

Neal said the day after the midterms that the committee would hold hearings on Trump's $1.5 trillion tax cut from last year. He said he's willing to work with Trump in pushing through a middle-income tax cut, but there would need to be adjustments for on tax rates for the rich.

Neal also said the committee will request Trump's elusive tax returns.

>>>From CNN: Here's the lawmaker who can request Trump's tax returns

U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton

Moulton, still under the hill at 39 years old, has been bandied about as the possible future of the Democratic Party. He's young, a war veteran, tough talking, and has got a really cool photo of him in a Red Sox hat carrying an assault rifle - a photo he used to advocate for gun control in a New York Daily News editorial.

Moulton has reportedly pushed for Nancy Pelosi to be phased out as Speaker of the House for some time now - efforts that have since gone much more public. "We’re the voices of a silent majority who want new leadership & to protect new members," he tweeted recently. Moulton would go a long way in representing that new wave of leadership.

From Politico: Generals Love Him. Top Democrats Despise Him. Can He Be President Anyway?

From Patch: Candidate Profile Of Seth Moulton

Photo by Jenna Fisher, Patch