Students Guide to 2020 Election
The Democratic primary field for President is growing with more and more candidates announcing their intentions to run. The primary field is already much larger than it was in 2016. Since 2016, the Democratic party has seen more and more candidates endorsing Medicare for All plans, as well as the increasing pressure for candidates like Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a self proclaimed democratic socialist, to declare their 2020 intentions.
According to the LA Times, the 2020 election already has a wide array of diverse candidates including top-tier household names, entrepreneurs, congressmen and state level officials. Many others are still speculated to announce their run. According to the LA Times article, people should look out for “Iowa visits,” “exploratory committees,” “(inclusion) in polls” and “recent or upcoming books.” With this in mind, we have compiled a list of the current candidates who have announced their campaign or their intent to run: Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, Tulsi Gabbard, Julian Castro, Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, John Delaney, Andrew Yang, Marianne Williamson, and Cory Booker. This primary cycle has a record amount of women running for president.Many other female candidates have been speculated to run, like Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar who will make her announcement on Sunday, February 10.
Kamala Harris
- Harris was born in Oakland, California.
- Harris announced her run Jan. 21 on Martin Luther King Day. Harris is a Senator from California. Prior to her time in Congress, Harris served as a prosecutor and the Attorney General of California. Her campaign slogan is, “For the People”.
- Harris is endorsed by Jacqui Irwin, who represents the 44th California assembly district, which represents the majority of Ventura County, including Thousand Oaks.
- With the help of senator Cory Booker, Harris helped pass the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act of 2018, which is the first time that any federal anti-lynching laws have been passed in US history.
Kirsten Gillibrand
- Gillibrand is the junior senator from New York.
- Gillibrand was born and raised in Upstate New York.
- She ran for a congressional seat in a heavily conservative district, and won.
- Her positions have shifted further to the left throughout her senate career compared to her time as a representative.
Tulsi Gabbard
- Gabbard announced her intent to run Jan. 11 on the Vans Jones Show. Gabbard released her campaign video on Jan 24.
- Gabbard became the youngest person elected to the Hawaii state legislature at age 21.
- Gabbard is also a veteran, having been deployed to the Middle East twice.
- She is endorsed by David Duke, former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, though she immediately denounced his endorsements.
Julian Castro
- Castro was raised in San Antonio, Texas,and later became it’s mayor, and then former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Barack Obama
- Castro’s Grandmother was an immigrant, and he has made immigration the centerpoint of his campaign
Pete Buttigieg
- Buttigieg is a former mayor from South Bend, Indiana.
- His husband is Chasten Glezman, a junior high humanities teacher.
- Buttigieg is 37 years old, and the youngest person on the current list of candidates.
- Buttigieg supports a medicare-for-all plan, but does not believe that it will end private insurance.
Elizabeth Warren
- Warren is the senior senator from Massachusetts .
- Warren grew up in Oklahoma.
- Warren was a law professor who worked with then President Barack Obama before she became a senator.
- Warren’s central message is to bring down the “big banks” and to bring the power back to the middle class.
- Warren has faced some controversy over her claims that she is Native American.
John Delaney
- Delaney is a former U.S. representative from Maryland.
- Delaney grew up in Wood Ridge, New Jersey and his grandparents immigrated from Ireland and England.
- Delaney announced his candidacy on July 28, 2017, making him the first federally elected official to officially begin their campaign.
Andrew Yang
- Andrew Yang is the founder of the American Company Venture for America. He was born and raised in Upstate New York by Taiwanese immigrants. Yang earned his bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from Brown University and then went to Columbia University for law school.
- Yang believes in creating a universal income, paying every citizen over the age of 18 $1,000 annually.
- Yang’s central message is to create a safety net for when automation takes the majority of blue collar jobs.
- Yang is an “Entrepreneur who understands the economy”.
- Yang was raised in upstate New York, and both of his parents immigrated from Taiwan.
Marianne Williamson
- She was the “Spiritual advisor” for Oprah.
- Williamson is a New York Times bestselling author who writes all of her books on a basis of spirituality.
Cory Booker
- Cory Booker is currently serving as a senator from New Jersey, the state he grew up in. Booker was raised in a poor area of the state.
- His campaign slogan is “We rise.”
- Booker attended Stanford, where he played football, and then Yale for law school. He later moved to Newark, New Jersey, to represent tenants who had landlords that only cared about profits and not their tenants.
- Booker supports a Medicare for All plan.
- Booker has also stated that “environmental justice” will be one of the cornerstones of his campaign.
- With the help of senator Kamala Harris, Booker helped pass the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act of 2018, which is the first time that any federal anti-lynching laws have been passed in US history
