Everyone Who's Running for President in 2020
The 2020 presidential elections are pretty much right around the corner — at least, according to the funky time measurement standards of US electoral politics — and, already, plenty of hats have been thrown into the ring for the big race. Here's everyone who's officially running, so far:
(Photos by Zach Gibson, Drew Angerer, John Sommers II, Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
Elizabeth Warren: Warren announced she was forming a presidential exploratory committee on December 31, 2018 — basically, a semi-official campaign announcement that made the 69-year-old senator from Massachusetts the highest-profile candidate for 2020. On February 9, 2019, she made her run official.
Warren is pro-choice, typically supportive of LGBTQ+ rights, and supportive of progressive criminal justice reforms. Like most Democrats, she stands opposed to President Trump’s plan to build a southern border wall. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images. Copy by Kat Armstrong)
Julián Castro: Castro made his 2020 candidacy official on January 12, 2019. He served as the mayor of San Antonio, Texas, from 2009 to 2014 before being drafted by President Obama to serve as secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2014 to 2017. Castro, whose twin brother Joaquín is a US representative for Texas, takes the standard liberal position on most of the major issues. He has been consistently pro-choice for abortions after 20 weeks and is supportive of the Paris Climate Agreement and a pathway to citizenship for most undocumented immigrants living in the US. (Photo by Edward A. Ornelas/Getty Images. Copy by Elizabeth King)
Tulsi Gabbard: The 37-year-old US representative from Hawai’i beat Castro by one day with her January 11, 2019, campaign announcement. Among progressives, Gabbard is probably the most controversial Democrat contender to step forward so far, largely due to her history of anti-LGBTQ+ activism. Despite her record, Gabbard received backing from various liberal and progressive individuals and groups, including Bernie Sanders and Planned Parenthood, when she ran for re-election in 2018. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images. Copy by Elizabeth King)
John Delaney: The 55-year-old Democrat is a former US representative from Maryland. He announced his intention to run in an op-ed for The Washington Post way back in July 2017. Delaney is perhaps best known for introducing legislation in 2014 to reform housing finance. In keeping with his party, Delaney is pro-choice and has supported LGBTQ+ issues such as gay marriage. Prior to joining the federal legislature in 2012, he was the CEO of a publicly-traded company and is the third-wealthiest member of Congress. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images. Copy by Elizabeth King)
Richard Ojeda: The 48-year-old West Virginia Democrat is a retired Army Major and former state senator who launched his presidential campaign in November 2018, shortly after losing his bid to represent West Virginia in the US House. While Ojeda takes a progressive position on labor rights, in addition to his otherwise standard Democrat leanings, he has a tough row to sow in this race: He has admitted to voting for President Trump in the 2016 election.
UPDATE (January 25, 2019): Ojeda announced on Friday, January 25, 2019 that he would be dropping out of the race. In a video provided to The Young Turks and The Intercept, Ojeda reportedly said,“I don’t want to see people send money to a campaign that’s probably not going to get off the ground,” The Intercept reports.
(Photo by John Sommers II/ Getty Images. Copy by Elizabeth King)
Kamala Harris: The 54-year-old Democratic senator from California ended years of speculation on January 21, 2019, when she definitively announced her intention to run for president in 2020. Harris is generally regarded as one of the more progressive members of her party. If Harris secures the Democrat nomination, she would become the first African-American woman to be a major party nominee for the presidency. (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images. Copy by Nicole Villeneuve)
Kirsten Gillibrand: In a January 15, 2019 taping The Late Show With Stephen Colbert , New York senator Gillibrand made the announcement that, much like her Senate colleague Elizabeth Warren, she would be filing to form an exploratory committee into the 2020 bid. 52-year-old Gillibrand has been an outspoken supporter of women’s rights, particularly in the wake of the #MeToo movement. In late 2017, the senator called for President Trump’s resignation alongside four other senators as allegations of sexual misconduct continued to mount against him. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images. Copy by Kat Armstrong)
