With the 2020 election quickly approaching, many politicians, and even some business professionals, are throwing their hats into the ring and joining the fray, and more are expected to join the race in the coming months to challenge the incumbent President Donald Trump.
According to Vox, Congresswoman Elizabeth Warren has announced that she will be running for president in 2020. This does not come as a surprise considering she almost entered the 2016 election to challenge Secretary Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination spot. Although there are several high profile candidates running for the Democratic nomination, there are a few potential front-runners, should they announce their candidacy: Former Vice President Joe Biden who served with President Obama; Congressman Bernie Sanders who lost the Democratic Party nomination to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election; and Beto O’Rourke who lost to Congressman Ted Cruz in the running for U.S. Senator in one of Texas’ closest races in recent years. John Podesta, Chairman for the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign, announced in January that Clinton will not run for president in 2020.
Some other notable candidates who have already announced as Democratic nominees are the following:
- Senator Cory Booker
- Mayor Pete Buttigieg
- Former Representative John Delaney
- Senator Kamala Harris
- Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
- Senator Amy Klobuchar
- Entrepreneur Andrew Yang
“Many who announce early on are doing so for name recognition,” said Ann Baldwin, United States Government Teacher at All Saints’ “This recognition could lead to a potential Vice President spot, help influence platform or even for the possibility of a rerun later on.”
From the opposite aisle, President Trump announced that he will be running for reelection, one of the few Republicans officially in the running. It will be interesting to see what the GOP decides to do in respect to fully backing Trump or putting forth a challenger from within the party.
When asked how voters should prepare for the upcoming election Baldwin said, “Educate yourself not only about the various candidates, but also the polls themselves and where they were sourced from. Do not jump into something blindly.”
It is imperative that as many voices are heard and votes are counted as possible in this upcoming 2020 election in order to strengthen our democratic values. As Grayson Poulson ‘19 said, “This elections empowers us to shape the future generations.”
