Who’s running against Trump in the 2020 election?
A description of each person who will be running in the 2020 election.
January 28, 2019
Many democrats have casted their bid for the presidency, hoping to bump out President Trump in the 2020 election. Not only is this list projected to continue growing, it already holds the record of being the most diverse group of presidential candidates. Here is the list of the candidates who have launched exploratory committees or who have already launched presidential campaigns:
Kamala Harris was the first woman to serve as attorney general of California. As of now, she serves California as a U.S. senator. Harris was born in Oakland, and according to her biography on her campaign page, became the first South Asian-American and second African-American female U.S. senator.
Harris has been outspoken about wanting to increase civil rights, give a tax cut to the middle class and have universal healthcare. She has also wanted to expand access to childcare, raise the minimum wage and continue reforming the criminal justice system.
Kirsten Gillibrand used to serve in the House of Representatives but now works in the U.S. Senate representing the state of New York. Gillibrand also served in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under the Clinton administration.
Known as a huge advocate for women’s rights, Gillibrand created Off the Sidelines, a platform that encourages women to have their voices heard on major political issues. She has supported the idea of Medicare for All and is known for reforming Congressional ethics as seen in the STOCK Act, an act that made it illegal for congressional members to profit off of insider information.
While Gillibrand was a conservative and used to be anti immigration and pro-gun on her policies, she has shared that she no longer thinks that way and has walked back her past views.
Elizabeth Warren is a senator from Massachusetts who used to be a law professor that specialized in bankruptcy law at Harvard and a list of other colleges.
Warren’s main fight throughout her political life has been against income inequality. She was the Special Adviser to the Secretary of the Treasury on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under Obama’s administration where she worked to prevent people from signing up for high-risk loans unknowingly. She was also the chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel which worked to monitor the Troubled Asset Relief Program, a program put in place after the 2008 financial crisis to restore economic growth.
Warren has also had a few issues surrounding her DNA heritage claim of being Native American. From President Trump calling her “Pocahontas” to her listing herself as a Native American at Harvard to actually taking a DNA test, Warren made a fool out of herself by calling herself a minority when she had mostly European ancestry.
PETE BUTTIGIEG
Pete Buttigieg is a navy veteran and the current mayor of South Bend, Indiana. After announcing his presidential bid, he became the first openly gay person to ever run for the U.S. presidency.
While Buttigieg policies are not well known, he has mentioned how he overhauled South Bend, a decaying industrial city, into a flushing urban area. He hopes to garner support from millennials as he is only 37 years old, one of the youngest to ever run for the presidency.
Julian Castro is the former mayor of San Antonio and the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, having served under the Obama administration. If elected, he would become the first Hispanic president of the United States.
According to the Washington Post, Castro has set his sights on expanding Medicare, reforming immigration, increasing the minimum wage and make college more affordable. He also wants to work on giving the criminal justice system an overhaul and make the price of living more affordable.
Andrew Yang is a former tech executive. He ran a national education company and later went on to found an economic development nonprofit called Venture for America.
Yang’s goal, if he reaches the presidency, is to implement a basic income of $1,000 per month for each American. Known as the Universal Basic Income, Yang hopes to achieve this goal by taxing major companies that benefit from the rapid development of automation.
John Delaney is a former congressman and a former businessman. In the past, Delaney held the title of youngest CEO in the New York Stock Exchange.
The main issue Delaney wants to fix is the political polarization of America by putting forward legislation that both parties will support. Delaney hopes to increase the minimum wage, expand education and have universal health care.
Tulsi Gabbard is a Army National Guard veteran who served in Iraq and a congresswoman from Hawaii. She takes the title of being the first Hindu to be elected into Congress. When she was younger, Gabbard served on the Honolulu City Council and the Hawaii State House of Representatives.
Gabbard is known as a champion for protecting the environment and ending regime change warfare. Gabbard wants to invest in a green energy economy, support the small businesses, break up the big banks and have our army focus on defeating terrorists groups that have declared war on the United States instead of having our troops go overseas into other countries.
In the past, Gabbard used to be anti-gay and supported conversion therapy. Her father was a legislator and Catholic activist and she followed in his footsteps for wanting to pass a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in Hawaii. She has now publicly apologized for her views and hurtful actions taken against the LGBTQ community.