Whether you’re one of the millions of Americans fed up with seeing Trump in the oval office, or you’re one of the silent masses eagerly awaiting Trump’s next political upset, we’ve all got one question right now: Who is running for President in 2020?
Lucky for you, we are political nerds and did all the digging to bring you this extensive list of likely Democratic contenders running for president in 2020.
POLLING TOP 5 RIGHT NOW:
1. Joe Biden for president in 2020?
Joe Biden is a former Vice President of the United States, serving under Barack Obama for eight years. He has been outspoken about climate change and is a vocal critic of president Donald Trump. He is originally from Scranton, Pennsylvania but served as democratic senator of Delaware from 1973-2009. As of October 2018, Joe Biden leads at 33% in democratic polls.
Joe Biden is seen as a champion of working-class people, fighting for middle-class tax cuts. He will likely have the endorsement and star power of Barack Obama working in his favor, should he run. In addition, there are a number of viral online parodies published by the satirical news outlet The Onion, portraying an alternate ‘Dynamite Joe’ Biden as a burnout slacker who drinks excessively and gets away with crimes. These are wildly popular with millennials and have worked to make him more appealing with this demographic.
2. Bernie Sanders for president in 2020?
Bernie Sanders is a senator from Vermont and a self-proclaimed democratic socialist. He ran for president in 2016 but lost his party’s nomination to Hillary Clinton. Sanders has already visited the early primary states and has been measured by the 538 political outlet as the most likely person to run for office in 2020. He is currently polling at 13%.
Bernie’s platform includes Medicare for all and free college tuition, which makes him a favorite among millennial voters. He is seen as a stable, believable candidate since he’s been saying the same thing for years.
3. Elizabeth Warren for president in 2020?
Elizabeth Warren is a Democratic senator from Massachusetts. She is a legal scholar and former economist who has proposed several ideas to fix capitalism in her recent book “This Fight Is Our Fight.” She worked in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and was a vocal proponent of breaking up ‘too big to fail’ banks after the financial crisis of 2008. She is also an outspoken critic of president Donald Trump. She is currently polling around 8%.
Warren will likely have some momentum following her ‘she persisted’ speech, which went viral in 2017. She could potentially capture some of the momentum from Bernie Sanders’ 2016 run if she embraces similar policies.
4. Cory Booker for president in 2020?
Cory Booker is the former mayor of Newark, New Jersey and currently holds a Senate seat representing New Jersey. He has laid out a vision to revive schools in Newark and has also worked to drastically reduce violence in the city. Booker has visited several of the 2020 early primary states and polls in the top 5 Democratic candidates for president.
Booker is considered by many to be an inspiring speaker who understands how to use social media and build momentum with young people. Even though Booker is a progressive, he has proven to be willing to reach across the aisle and has worked with conservative Republicans to draft marijuana decriminalization legislation.
5. Kamala Harris for president in 2020?
Kamala Harris is a former prosecutor and attorney general for the state of California. She was an outspoken ‘no’ on Kavanaugh and is passionate about equal pay for women. She has also been outspoken about the need to protect children at the US border. She is currently polling around 9% or third place.
Harris is a first-term senator and the new Starchild of the Democratic party. She is also a #MeToo champion and will most likely garner support from women – particularly women of color – should she decide to run.
SECOND TIER CONTENDERS:
Most of these possible 2020 presidential candidates will make you go, “Who?” There are many PROS here, but their relative anonymity is the major CON they all share.
6. Tim Ryan for president in 2020?
Tim Ryan is a congressman from Ohio. He is a seasoned fighter for working families and comes from a middle-class upbringing. He is outspoken on healthcare and education.
7. John Hickenlooper for president in 2020?
John Hickenlooper is the current Democratic governor of Colorado. He is said to have brought back to Colorado prestige, a strong economy, jobs, and the arts. He is seen by many as being very likable.
8. Jeff Merkley for president in 2020?
Jeff Merkley is a Democratic senator from Oregon. He is the son of a sawmill worker and has fought for LGBTQ equal rights and Planned Parenthood. He is also outspoken on climate change.
9. Steve Bullock for president in 2020?
Steve Bullock is the current Democratic governor of Montana (a red state). Bullock grew up as a paperboy. He won his seat the same year there was a “red wave” electing Trump in 2016 and has since passed progressive policies like Medicaid expansion. He believes he can beat Trump for these reasons.
10. John Delaney for president in 2020?
John Delaney is a Democratic congressman from Maryland and former entrepreneur who has already announced his candidacy for President. He is most known for working toward bi-partisanship.
11. Pete Buttigieg for president in 2020?
Pete Buttigieg is the mayor of a small town in Indiana. He is most known for being a progressive in a very red region and still repping an 80% approval rating. He is an Oxford and Harvard graduate.
12. Jay Inslee for president in 2020?
Jay Inslee is the current Democratic governor of the state of Washington. He is outspoken on climate change (he even wrote a book about it years ago) and boasts a legacy of creating 250,000 jobs in Washington since 2008.
13. Brian Schatz for president in 2020?
Brian Schatz is a Democratic senator from Hawaii. He fights for the middle class and is working to expand social security.
14. Julian Castro for president in 2020?
Julian Castro is the former mayor of San Antonio, TX who has mentioned “it is likely” that he runs for President. He touts a booming city economy rated with AAA status, as well as working to raise the local high school graduation rates to 92%.
15. Amy Klobuchar for president in 2020?
Amy Klobuchar is a Democratic senator from Minnesota who gained some notoriety during the Kavanaugh hearings. She is known in Minnesota for taking a visit to every one of the state’s 92 counties every year.
16. Tulsi Gabbard for president in 2020?
Tulsi Gabbard is a democratic congresswoman from Hawaii. She is the first Samoan American as well as the first Hindu member of the United States Congress. Tulsi is also a former Iraq veteran who is outspoken about US military involvement overseas, particularly in Syria. She has said money in politics is one of the biggest issues of our time.
17. Eric Holder for president in 2020?
Eric Holder is the former US attorney general under Obama who would likely continue Obama’s legacy. He is very liked and respected within the D.C. arena.
18. Andrew Cuomo for president in 2020?
Andrew Cuomo is the current Democratic governor of New York. His father was also a governor. Cuomo is considered a political elite with strong connections. He is supportive of raising the minimum wage to $15 and passed stronger gun restrictions after the Sandy Hook school shootings.
19. Eric Garcetti for president in 2020?
Eric Garcetti is the current Democratic mayor of Los Angeles, California. Garcetti is a young, innovative mayor with lots of celebrity backing. He once had DJ Khaled at his fundraiser and was also supportive of Elon Musk’s plan to build a tunnel under LA in an effort to solve traffic problems.
20. Kirsten Gillibrand
Kirsten Gillibrand is a progressive Democratic senator from New York. She has been outspoken about sexual assault in the military and sexual harassment. She is a star of the new Women’s Movement. She is extremely popular with voters in New York City, particularly women.
THE DARK HORSES
In years past, this list would have included people like Trump and others who make a surprise political splash. After the 2016 election, much of the D.C. arena and establishment is on the lookout for new dark horses as the nation trends towards outside appeal.
21. Howard Schultz for president in 2020?
Howard Schultz was born in Brooklyn, New York. He is the former CEO of Starbucks from 1986-2000 and again from 2008-2017. He stepped away from the company in 2018. Schultz has said his consideration for a presidential run was driven by a motivation to fix income inequality.
22. Michael Bloomberg for president in 2020?
Michael Bloomberg is a businessman and former Republican mayor of New York City, but has just recently registered as a Democrat. He is worth an estimated $50 billion. He has also released a book and has been active in the midterm elections.
23. Michael Avenatti for president in 2020?
Michael Avenatti is most well-known for being the lawyer for adult film star Stormy Daniels. Dark horse or black hole?
24. Tom Steyer for president in 2020?
Tom Steyer is a hedge fund billionaire, philanthropist, environmentalist and liberal activist who spent $180 million dollars during the midterms trying to flip the house for Democrats. He runs impeachment ads against president Trump and is rumored to have built a mailing list with 11 million names on it.
25. Andrew Yang for president in 2020?
Okay! Now we are talking dark horses. According to the NY Times, Andrew Yang is a “longer-than-long shot” for the presidency. Yang is the first Asian American to run for president on the democratic ticket. He is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Venture For America (a non-profit that helped create thousands of jobs in places like Detroit and Baltimore). Yang is running on a platform of Universal Basic Income – giving every American adult $1,000 per month as a way to immediately reduce poverty and respond to automation displacing jobs. He has a total of 73 policy positions listed on his website – the most of any candidate in the field. Many have said that “the opposite of Donald Trump: an Asian man who likes math.”
Andrew Yang is actually a bit more well-known than many of the Second Tier candidates listed above, and his ground game in Iowa and New Hampshire has been particularly strong. He has spoken at several Silicon Valley tech companies, including Google, and was recently interviewed on the Sam Harris podcast. Yang is a self-professed ‘problem solver’ who understands emerging technologies. He has built companies and has a bold vision for the country.
If you’re reading this and intrigued, certainly give a look to Andrew Yang’s big speech in Iowa to 1,000 Democrats, or click around the website because, surprise, if you hadn’t of noticed, this is the website for Andrew Yang’s campaign for president in 2020.
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