By: Erin EndresAlthough the 2020 Presidential Election may seem like a lifetime away, many Democrats have been announcing their candidacies and starting their campaigns left and right. As of right now, 11 Democratic party members have officially joined the race, and here’s what you need to know about each of them. The most familiar name on the list goes to one of the top runner’s from the 2016 election, Vermont Senator, Bernie Sanders. Sanders is 77 years old and has been in politics for the past 38 years. Some of the self-proclaimed democratic socialist’s biggest goals as president would be to make public colleges tuition-free, to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour, to provide Medicare to all Americans, to impose a 77% tax rate on billionaire estates and to cut carbon emissions and address climate change. According to the Chicago Tribune, in an email to supporters, Sanders gave a message of hope: "Our campaign is about transforming our country and creating a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice."
From Massachusetts comes the first Democratic candidate to announce her 2020 campaign, 69-year-old Senator Elizabeth Warren. Warren is committed to limiting the power of lobbyists in the government, reforming the criminal justice system, bringing American troops home and holding billionaires and big corporations accountable. Similarly to Sanders, Warren wants to help establish a Green New Deal and Medicare for All, and she also wants to work to provide student loan debt relief. Cory Booker, a 49-year-old New Jersey Senator, also announced his bid for the presidency in early February. Booker wants to focus his campaign on social and racial equality along with unity and pride amongst Americans in an increasingly polarized country. His push for unity was highlighted in his announcement of candidacy where he stated, “The history of our nation is defined by collective action; by interwoven destinies of slaves and abolitionists; of those born here and those who chose America as home; of those who took up arms to defend our country, and those who linked arms to challenge and change it.” California Senator, Kamala Harris, kicked off her presidential campaign in Oakland California in late January. Like Elizabeth Warren, Harris supports limiting the power of lobbyists in the government by refusing to take campaign contributions from big corporate PACs. Some of her biggest campaign proposals include Medicare for All, a middle-class tax cut, debt-free college education and universal pre-K. All of which she intends to pay for by rolling back on Trump’s tax reform, which she refers to as “a trillion-dollar giveaway for large conglomerates and the 1%.” On a cold and snowy day in Minnesota, Senator Amy Klobuchar announced that she would be running for president. She was the first female to become a Minnesota Senator and earned a reputation amongst Democrats through her levelheaded questioning of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Following a common theme, Klobuchar also refuses to accept donations from corporate PACs pledging to get ‘dark money’ out of politics. She is a more centrist Democrat who, in her campaign announcement, rebuked the current administration’s policies on immigration, voting rights and climate change. Julian Castro, Former San Antonio Mayor and US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under the Obama Administration, was the first Latino to enter the 2020 race on Jan. 12. Castro is promoting a platform of unity and strength in order to bring about change. He isn’t taking donations from PACs either and is relying on his supporters. In his campaign announcement, Castro focused on welcoming immigrants and attacked the current administration’s immigration policies and the border wall. He has also made affordable college education, free trade, care for seniors and universal health care priorities of his platform. Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard joined the 2020 race on Jan. 11. She has stated that she wants to help solve a lot of the challenges and issues facing the American people such as criminal justice reform, climate change and health care. She also wants to raise taxes for large corporations and cut those on small businesses. The issue she seems to be most passionate about is that of war and peace; she has advocated for reducing the acquisition of nuclear weapons and wants to limit military spending. Some controversy does surround Gabbard and her stance on the Syrian war because she has previously met with the Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad. On Jan. 16, Kirsten Gillibrand, 52-year-old Senator from New York, announced her bid for the 2020 presidential election on CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. She became known as the “Me Too Senator” by pushing for Al Franken’s resignation after sexual misconduct allegations came to light and for publically calling out President Trump on his sexism. Some of the biggest pushes in her campaign are to mandate paid parental leave, to support the middle class, to better public schooling and to take on both institutional racism in the country and corruption in the government. She has stated that she is going to fight to create a better future: “I'm going to run for president of the United States because, as a young mom, I'm going to fight for other people's kids as hard as I would fight for my own.” Lesser-known former Maryland Representative, John Delaney, was the first to announce his candidacy for the 2020 election in July 2017. He spent much of his final year as Congressman by visiting every county in Iowa, the first state to vote in the primaries, in attempts to jumpstart his campaign. He supports traditional Democratic policies such as a $15 minimum wage, universal healthcare and he goes a step forward by promising to help create a $500 billion program for nationwide affordable housing. He has also prioritized ethics in government by promising to support only bipartisan bills during his first 100 days in office, to work to end gerrymandering and to overturn Citizens United. Marianne Williamson is a best-selling author of spiritual self-help books who has also entered the race for the 2020 election. As a citizen, she has been an active support of poverty reduction, female empowerment and the HIV/AIDS community. As a presidential candidate, she proposes a ‘more humane’ immigration policy and $10 billion of slavery reparations to be paid to the African American community each year for 10 consecutive years. Her campaign focuses on promoting citizen activism and empowerment as Williamson is dedicated to creating an America “where citizens awaken, our hearts and minds are uplifted, and our democracy once more becomes a thing about which we can all feel proud.” In Nov. 2018, Former tech executive, Andrew Yang, announced that he was going to be running in the 2020 election as well. Yang has three big policies that he focuses his platform on. His first is to implement a Universal Basic Income called “The Freedom Dividend”. This would be a $1,000 check given to every American over the age of 18 in hopes to allow everyone to cover basic bills, have access to education, and have an equal opportunity to make a future for themselves. Yang is also focused on providing Medicare and public healthcare for all Americans. Lastly, he wants to improve the US economy by moving towards a new form of capitalism centered around maximizing human welfare which he calls “Human Capitalism”.
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