As the list of potential candidates sometimes becomes speculative, a starting point is necessary to have a baseline understanding of the potential Trump opponents in the next presidential election. This list will briefly introduce all the Democratic candidates so far who have said they are running for president in 2020.
Cory Booker, 49
Booker, who announced he was running on Feb. 1, is the current New Jersey senator and was the former mayor of Newark. He calls for the unification of the country and has been a strong advocate for criminal justice reform. The Chicago Tribune calls Booker a centrist.
Pete Bettigieg, 37
Bettigieg is the mayor of the unfamiliar South Bend, Indiana. A military veteran from the war in Afghanistan, Bettigieg would be the youngest and the first openly gay nominee from a major party. Some of the issues he stands by include climate change and widening economic opportunities.
Julian Castro, 44
Castro is the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under Obama. Before that, he was the mayor of San Antonio, Texas. He is the first Latino in this bunch of candidates to enter the race. In his candidacy announcement, he focused on immigration and disapproved of President Trump’s policies for a border wall. Other issues of importance to him include universal pre-kindergarten, Medicare for all and raising the minimum wage.
John Delaney, 55
Delaney is a former Maryland congressman. He was the first one to say that he was running, dating the announcement back to 2017. He endorses universal healthcare and comprehensive immigration reform and hopes to, according to PBS, “repatriate tax revenue to fund bipartisan infrastructure package.”
Tulsi Gabbard, 37
A congresswoman from Hawaii and an Army National Guard veteran, Gabbard announced her candidacy on “The Van Jones Show” where she she wants to solve criminal justice reform, climate change and health care issues. She has faced controversy a week after her announcement regarding her previous anti-gay statements and for working for the anti-gay advocacy group, Alliance for Traditional Marriage. She has apologized for her past and said her views have changed since then.
Gillibrand is a New York senator and a former congresswoman who shared that she was running on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in mid-January. According to the New York Times, she is a leading liberal voice in the senate and prioritizes women’s equality and opportunity.
Kamala Harris, 54
A current first-term senator for California, Harris caught the attention of the public when she questioned Trump’s cabinet nominees and his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. If she gets the nomination, she would be the first African-American women to get the nomination. Some of the issues she stands by include middle-class tax cut legislation, rent relief, Medicare for all and immigration and criminal justice overhauls.
Amy Klobuchar, 58
Klobuchar, so far, is the most recent Democrat to announce her candidacy. Like Harris, the Minnesota senator was taken notice when she questioned Kavanaugh. The issues she is prioritizing include handling the opioid epidemic, drug addiction and limiting the cost of prescription drugs.
Elizabeth Warren, 69
Warren is the current Massachusetts senator who announced on New Year’s Eve that she was forming an exploratory committee and expected to officially enter the race early next year. She wants to combat income inequality and protect the middle class from big corporations and political corruption. In late 2018, Warren faced criticism for releasing a DNA test “to prove her claim to Native American heritage.”
Marianne Williamson, 66
Williamson is the best-selling author of multiple self-help and spirituality novels. She aims to propose a $100 billion in reparations for slavery and $10 billion annually in a 10-year span for economic and educational projects. According to New York Times, she ran for congress in 2014 as an independent.
Andrew Yang, 44
The former tech executive is leading his campaign with the proposal of creating a basic universal income of $1,000 per month for all Americans.
