While it may be over a year until the 2020 election, candidates have decided there is no better time than the present. In 2016, many key presidential candidates announced their run for president in the spring of 2015. If today’s politicians follow the same formula, then they are sure to begin to make their bid for America’s highest office soon. One of the biggest questions for eligible voters is who should they vote for; politics have become more about which candidate has the most generous donors, or who can say the wildest things on TV. The core question of what are these peoples policies often gets left unanswered.
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D)
Warren has gotten an early start in the 2020 run for president and has already begun campaigning in Iowa. Warren was a registered Republican until her 40s when she changed her party because she felt that the Democrats represented the people better. Warren has dedicated her adult life to studying consumer bankruptcies. She has taught many classes at prestigious universities and also helped create the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Warren is one of the first politicians to endorse the Black Lives Matter movement.
Background: Senator of Massachusetts since 2013. Graduated from Rutgers School of Law in 1976. Professor of Law at the University of Texas School of Law, the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and Harvard Law School.
For more information: https://elizabethwarren.com
John Kasich (R)
While John Kasich is a registered Republican, his ideas are falling more and more in line with those of the Democratic Party. If he were to run for the Republican party, he would most likely be the only candidate to run against President Trump during the Republican Primaries. Kasich remains an outspoken critic of Trump. On his website, it states that he believes in country over party. For most of his career he has fought for bipartisan politics. He has also shown disdain for President Trump’s proposed border wall.
Background: Governor of Ohio from 2010-2019, former television host on FOX News, served 18 years on the House Armed Services Committee.
For more information: https://www.johnkasich.com/
Julián Castro (D)
Julián Castro has plenty of experience in the White House, from interning in 1994 to being the youngest member of Former President Obama’s cabinet. Castro has been a long-time supporter of LGBTQ rights. In San Antonio, he built and improved pre-Kindergartens for thousands of children in San Antonio.
Background: Mayor of San Antonio from 2009 to 2014, and served as the 16th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Barack Obama from 2014 to 2017.
Andrew Yang (D)
Yang used his company, Venture, for the past six years to create jobs in cities across America. He believes in a universal income for every American adult of $1,000. On his 2020 campaign website, it states that he believes in Medicare for all and “human-centered capitalism”. Yang’s site lays out a comprehensive plan of his policies.
Background: Founder of Venture for America, Author of The War on The Normal People
For more information: https://www.yang2020.com/
Richard Ojeda (D)
Ojeda originally supported President Trump in 2016 but rescinded his support because of his dislike for the administration. Ojeda fought with the striking teachers and was an integral part in helping them reach their demands. Ojeda holds a mixture of Republican and Democratic ideals. For example, he is pro-coal, but he is also pro-choice. Ojeda believes that elected officials should have the same healthcare package options as ordinary Americans.
Background: State Senator of the 7th district in West Virginia from 2016 to 2019. Spent two decades in Iraq and Afghanistan, and retired as a Major.
Status: Ojeda dropped out 1/28/2019
For more information: https://voteojeda.com
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D)
Gillibrand makes the most recent addition to the growing amount of Democratic candidates, announcing her run January 15th, 2019, on The Late Late Show with Stephen Colbert. During her interview with Stephen Colbert, she states her belief that health care is a right, not a privilege. In a campaign video, she pledges to not receive donations from corporate PACs. She was one of the leading voices of the #Metoo movement on capitol hill when she was the first Democratic Senator to call former Senator Al Franken to resign. She has fought for ending sexual assault in the US military and colleges.
Background: attorney, Junior United States Senator of New York 2009-2019, representative of New York’s 20th congressional district from 2007 to 2009, graduated as an undergrad from Dartmouth, graduated with a law degree from UCLA
For more information check out: https://2020.kirstengillibrand.com/
Tulsi Gabbard (D)
Gabbard made headlines as the first Hindu member of Congress. She is against the war on terror in the middle east. She is pro-choice and for Medicare for all. Nancy Pelosi called Gabbard a rising star of the democratic party, but Gabbard’s rising star has recently come under fire for past support of anti-LGBTQ groups and anti-muslim groups. Gabbard has since said that she has changed her anti-LGBTQ stance.
Background: representative of Hawaii 2nd congressional district since 2013 and served as a field medic in the Hawaii National Guard
For more information check out: https://gabbard.house.gov
John Delaney (D)
Delaney has been campaigning for almost seventeen months, but still is relatively unknown even though he has campaigned through every county in Iowa. On his website he states that he wants to reform our corrupt financial system, end gerrymandering, and end government corruption. He believes in universal medicare, raising the minimum wage, and lower the interest rate in student loans. Delaney is the only 2020 candidate to express his disapproval of Brexit.
Background: representative of Maryland’s 6th district from 2013 to 2019, founded Healthcare Financial Partners and Capital Source
For more information check out:https://www.john delaney.com
Sen. Kamala Harris (D)
Harris is regarded highly in the political world for her work as an attorney and many people have come to know her when she grilled President Trump’s supreme court nominees, including Brett Kavanaugh. Harris was the second black woman to serve in the United States Senate. Harris is for tax cuts for the middle class, reforming the cash bail system, Medicare for all, and protecting the rights of immigrants and refugees. Harris was involved in winning a $20 billion settlement for homeowners who were facing foreclosure by Wall Street. She is one of the many candidates to state that they will refuse donations from corporate PACs.
Background: Senator of California from 2017 to 2019, District Attorney of San Francisco from 2004 to 2010, and the 32nd attorney general of California from 2011 to 2003
For more information check out: https://kamalaharris.org
Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D)
On January 23rd Buttigieg made history as the first openly gay presidential candidate. Buttigieg is a relative newcomer to politics so experts predict that this will be an uphill battle for the mayor, but despite being a newcomer Buttigieg has had shining words of endorsement from former president Obama who saw Buttigieg as a potential leading light in the Democratic Party. Buttigieg has pushed for raising the minimum wage and Medicare for all.
Background: veteran of the War in Afghanistan, 32nd Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, attended Harvard and Oxford
For more information check out: https://mayorpeteforamerica.com/
Senator Cory Booker (D)
Since Cory Booker emerged into the political spotlight in 2002 when he first ran for Mayor. While Booker has sworn off donations from PACs, Booker has been one of the top recipients of campaign donations from Wall Street. Booker has brought attention to causes such as homelessness and the federal food stamp program. Booker is most well known for his interactions with supporters on Twitter. He supports reforming the criminal justice system. Booker’s stances sway very liberal and is the 17th most liberal senator.
Background: Senator of NJ since 2013, 36th Mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013,
For more information check out:https://corybooker.com/
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D)
On February 11th, despite the freezing temperatures and snow, Senator Amy Klobuchar announced her bid for president. Klobuchar has been described as a rising star by other members of the democratic party. She admitted that she can be tough on her staff members after reports that she mistreated the people working for her, but she says that she would be a tough president. While serving as a senator her main focus has been on focusing on the issue of health care affordability, election security, and consumer safety. During her campaign announcement, she stated she wants to reduce the influence of money in politics and reinstating climate change regulations.
Background: served as Minnesota senator since 2006, lawyer, and county attorney for Hennepin.
For more information check out:https://www.amyklobuchar.com/
Senator Bernie Sanders (D)
He’s running, after his defeat in the 2016 democratic primaries people weren’t sure if the Vermont Senator would run for president in 2020. Sanders announced his 2020 bid in an interview with Vermont Public Radio. Sanders is a self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist. His stances align with this description: he is for Medicare for all, raising the minimum wage to 15$, investing more money into our infrastructure, and tuition-free public college. Out of the vast number of 2020 candidates, he is by far the most outspoken toward President Trump. In 2016 Bernie’s socialist ideas were looked down upon, most likely because of America’s long history of seeing socialism and communism as one of the same, but Sander’s ideas have become more and more mainstream in the democratic party since the 2016 election.
Background: Senator of Vermont since 2007, in 1981 he ran as an Independent for Mayor of Burlington and won, and ran for president in 2016 as a Democrat.
For more information check out: https://berniesanders.com
