Here’s a breakdown of the people who have officially announced their candidacies or exploratory committees so far for the 2020 presidential candidates.
Democrats
Cory Booker
Age: 49
Experience: U.S. senator from New Jersey, 2013-present; mayor of Newark, 2006-2013.
Quote: “I believe that we can build a country where no one is forgotten, no one is left behind.”
Fast facts: New Jersey’s first African-American senator, Booker has backed liberal policies from marriage equality and abortion rights to marijuana legalization and criminal-justice reform.
Campaign site: https://corybooker.com/
Pete Buttigieg
Age: 37
Experience: Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, 2012-present
Quote: “We can’t look for greatness in the past. Right now, our country needs a fresh start.”
Fast facts: A lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve who served in Afghanistan, Buttigieg would be the first openly gay nominee for a major political party.
Campaign site: https://www.peteforamerica.com/
Julián Castro
Age: 44
Experience: Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2014-2017; mayor of San Antonio, 2009-2014
Quote: “Today we’re falling backwards instead of moving forward. And the opportunities that made America, the America we love, those opportunities are reaching fewer and fewer people.”
Fast facts: The grandson of a Mexican immigrant and son of a Latina activist, Castro’s twin brother, Joaquin Castro, is a Democratic congressman from Texas.
Campaign site: https://www.julianforthefuture.com/
John Delaney
Age: 55
Experience: U.S. House representative from Maryland, 2013-2019; Entrepreneur
Quote: “Trump wants this campaign to be about socialism and we shouldn’t give him what he wants. We need to update our social programs to better fit today’s world, and we need to make capitalism more just and inclusive.”
Fast facts: Delaney, who founded two publicly traded companies, was one of the first Democrats to announce and has been a 2020 presidential candidate since July 2017
Campaign site: https://www.johndelaney.com/
Tulsi Gabbard
Age: 37
Experience: U.S. House representative from Hawaii, 2013-present
Quote: “I’m running for president to end regime change wars, work to end the new Cold War and nuclear arms race, and take the trillions of dollars wasted on these wars and put it back in the pockets of the American people.”
Fast facts: Born in Leloaloa, American Samoa, Gabbard is the first Hindu member of Congress. She served in the Hawaii National Guard and was deployed to Iraq in 2004.
Campaign site: https://www.votetulsi.com/
Kirsten Gillibrand
Age: 52
Experience: U.S. senator from New York, 2009-present; U.S. House representative from New York, 2007-2009
Quote: “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 fight for my own.”
Fast facts: Gillibrand is the mother of two boys and was the sixth woman ever to give birth while serving in Congress.
Campaign site: https://kirstengillibrand.com/
Kamala Harris
Age: 54
Experience: U.S. senator from California, 2017-present; California attorney general, 2011-2016; San Francisco district attorney 2004-2011
Quote: “As we embark on this campaign, I will tell you this: I am not perfect. Lord knows, I am not perfect. But I will always speak with decency and moral clarity and treat all people with dignity and respect. I will lead with integrity. And I will speak the truth.”
Fast facts: In 2017, Harris – whose mother emigrated to the U.S. from India – became the first South Asian-American, and the second African-American female senator in U.S. history.
Campaign site: https://kamalaharris.org/
John Hickenlooper
Age: 67
Experience: Governor of Colorado, 2011-2019; mayor of Denver 2003-2011; restaurateur
Quote: “Donald Trump is alienating our allies, ripping away our health care, endangering our planet and destroying our democracy.”
Fast facts: Hickenlooper suffers from prosopagnosia, or face blindness, which makes it difficult for someone to recognize people. Hickenlooper told CNN the condition has a silver lining “because the way I have overcompensated was to treat everyone who come towards me as a friend, just to assume that I know them.”
Campaign site: https://www.hickenlooper.com
Jay Inslee
Age: 68
Experience: Governor of Washington, 2013-present
Quote: “We’re the first generation to feel the sting of climate change and we’re the last that can do something about it.”
Fast facts: An avid cyclist and hiker, Inslee intends to make climate change a central part of his campaign. As governor, he has pushed for clean energy and recently backed a state carbon fee to limit pollution.
Campaign site: https://jayinslee.com/
Amy Klobuchar
Age: 58
Experience: U.S. senator from Minnesota, 2007-present; Hennepin County prosecutor, 1999-2006
Quote: “I don’t have a political machine. I don’t come from money. But what I do have is this: I have grit, I have family, I have friends, and I have all of you.”
Fast facts: Klobuchar is positioning herself as a Midwest moderate who can work with Republicans. According to GovTrack, Klobuchar introduced the most pieces of legislation in the 115th Congress of any Democratic senator and had the most non-Democratic co-sponsors on her bills.
Campaign site: https://amyklobuchar.com/
Beto O’Rourke
Age: 46
Experience: U.S. House representative from Texas, 2013-2019; El Paso City Council member, 2005-2011
Quote: “I want to be president because I feel that we can bring this country together. We can unify around our ambitions, our aspirations, the big things that we know we are capable of when all of us have the opportunity to contribute.”
Fast facts: O’Rourke is a lover of punk rock, and co-founded the band Foss during his college years. The band toured during his summer break and put out an album in 1993 titled, “The El Paso Pussycats.”
Campaign site: https://betoorourke.com/
Bernie Sanders
Age: 77
Experience: U.S. senator from Vermont, 2007-present; U.S. House representative from Vermont, 1991-2000
Quote: “Our health care system today essentially says that if you happen to be poor, you are less deserving of getting care than a wealthy person. That is fundamentally immoral and that is not the kind of nation we should be.”
Fast fact: Although he is seeking the Democratic nomination, Sanders has run as an independent for every other office he has sought. Before being elected to Congress in 1990, he lost two Senate campaigns (1972 and 1974) and three gubernatorial campaigns (1972, 1976 and 1986) in Vermont.
Campaign site: https://berniesanders.com/
Elizabeth Warren
Age: 69
Experience: U.S. senator from Massachusetts, 2013-present
Quote: “The man in the White House is not the cause of what’s broken, he’s just the latest – and most extreme – symptom of what’s gone wrong in America: A product of a rigged system that props up the rich and the powerful and kicks dirt on everyone else.”
Fast fact: Warren came into the national spotlight for her passionate criticism of Wall Street, the banking industry and large corporations after the 2008 financial crisis hit. Then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid appointed her the chair on a panel to oversee the federal bailout in response to the crisis.
Campaign site: https://elizabethwarren.com/
Marianne Williamson
Age: 66
Experience: Motivational speaker, New Age spiritual guru and self-help author
Quote: “I believe a moral and spiritual awakening is necessary in this country. And nothing short of that will fundamentally disrupt the patterns of political dysfunction.”
Fast fact: Williamson’s spent the last 35 years as a spiritual guide and author with connections throughout the celebrity world, including Oprah Winfrey.
Campaign site: https://www.marianne2020.com/
Andrew Yang
Age: 44
Experience: Entrepreneur; founder of non-profit fellowship program Venture for America
Quote: “I fear for the future of our country. New technologies – robots, software, artificial intelligence – have already destroyed more than 4 million U.S. jobs, and in the next 5-10 years, they will eliminate millions more.”
Fast fact: Yang’s platform includes providing every American 18 and older with a basic universal income of $1,000 a month.
Campaign site: https://www.yang2020.com/
The Republicans
President Donald Trump
Age: 72
Experience: U.S president, 2017-present; real estate developer; reality TV star
Quote: “Considering that we have done more than any Administration in the first two years, this should be easy.”
Fast fact: Trump filed for re-election the day he was inaugurated, and his campaign already has raised more than $100 million.
Campaign site: https://www.donaldjtrump.com/
William Weld
Age: 73
Experience: Governor of Massachusetts, 1991-1997
Quote: “We have a president whose priorities are skewed towards promotion of himself rather than for the good of the country.”
Fast fact: Weld ran for vice president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 2016. In 1974, he worked as an associate minority counsel to the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate investigation.
Campaign site: https://www.weld2020.org/
Who is considering a run?
Joe Biden: The former vice president could enter his third presidential run after deciding against it in 2016. He is a party favorite for his appeal to working-class Democrats — a segment of the voter base some feel was lost to conservatives.
Sen. Michael Bennet: The Colorado Democrat, a former superintendent of Denver’s public school system, joined the Senate in 2009 and has trumpeted his support for the “next generation” by focusing on education, health care and climate change. He’s already visited early caucus state Iowa to meet with activists.
Who’s out?
Hillary Clinton: The Democrats’ 2016 nominee quashed rumors she’d make another run, telling a New York television station, “I’m not running, but I’m going to keep working and speaking and standing up for what I believe.”
Sen. Sherrod Brown: Brown and his wife toured early primary and caucus states just days before the Democrat announced he’d rather remain a senator. “We’ve decided the best place for me to continue fighting for Ohio and all the workers is to stay in the U.S. Senate.” Brown was seen as someone with the potential to win back an increasingly red Midwest. He has served as senator since 2006 and just won a contentious re-election race against Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci.
Michael Bloomberg: The former New York City mayor and billionaire owner of the software and media company Bloomberg, will invest in clean energy and liberal causes rather than hit the campaign trail. The eighth-richest person in the U.S., he’s considered a moderate — having run and won mayoral elections as a Republican and Independent.
Sen. Jeff Merkeley: The Oregon Democrat abandoned his 2020 White House ambitions, opting instead to run for re-election in 2020. “There are Democrats now in the presidential race who are speaking to the importance of tackling the big challenges we face,” he said.
Michael Avenatti: The media-savvy attorney who once represented porn star Stormy Daniels in her legal battles with the president, said he’ll keep his name off the candidate list “Out of respect for my family.” Avenatti burst onto the political scene, becoming a mainstay on cable news and a fierce critic of the president. He parlayed his fame into a period in which he was “exploring” a run, even making a visit to early caucus state Iowa.
Richard Ojeda: The former West Virginia state senator dropped out of the race in January, telling supporters he didn’t want them donating money to a campaign with little chance of success.
(With inputs from USAToday)
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