The 2020 Elections Are Heating Up for America

By Duane Paul Murphy

The United States 2020 elections are now starting to gear up. Between now and the summer of 2020, the Democrats will have an official nominee to compete against Incumbent President Donald Trump. Trump is expected to be the Republican Party’s presidential nominee between now in 2019 and summer 2020 at the RNC convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

However, if Trump either resigns from office, dies in office, or decides not to run for president in 2020, it is expected that Vice President Mike Pence would become the nominee. Primary challenger within the GOP, whether Trump is in or not, may include former Tennessee Senator Bob Corker, former Arizona Jeff Flake, former Ohio Governor John Kasich, and Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.

Meanwhile, multiple Democrats have already declared their official candidacy as well as set up formal exploratory committees to win their party’s presidential nomination before their July convention, predicted to take place in either the cities of Houston, Denver, Miami, or Milwaukee.

Officially declared candidates include former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, former Maryland Congressman John Delaney, Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, California Senator Kamala Harris, and former West Virginia State Senator Richard Ojeda. Candidates who formed an official exploratory committee include Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg. If either Warren, Gillibrand, Gabbard, or Harris are elected, they could become the country’s first female president. If either Gabbard or Harris are elected, they could become the country’s second non-white president after former President Barack Obama and the country’s first non-white female of color president. If Buttigieg is elected, he will become the country’s first gay president. If Castro is elected, he will be the country’s first Hispanic and Latinx president.

Warren, who was the first head of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, was one of the first major candidates to announce her candidacy as early as December 2018. Representative Delaney, who formerly represented  Montgomery and Frederick counties of southern Maryland while in Congress, started his candidacy in 2017, the year after Trump was elected to office.

Democrats who have public expressed interest in running for president include former Vice President Joe Biden, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, New Jersey Senator Corey Booker, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke. If Sanders or Biden are elected, they would be the oldest presidents ever elected since Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump.

Out of many potential candidates that are running or may run, two potential candidates include Catholic University of America alumni such as former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu and former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe.  Another Catholic University of America alumni, former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, will not run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.

This year, a series of forums and debates are expected to take place sometime in June. Official lists of presidential candidates are expected to be placed on early primary ballots starting in late October. In February 2020, the presidential primaries will begin in Iowa, Nevada, South Carolina, and New Hampshire. Afterwards in March, Super Tuesday primary states will include California, Massachusetts, and Texas, which have more delegates than the smaller states, the territories, overseas voters, and the District of Columbia.

Even though there is no clear front runner, election day is still a long way to go until Tuesday, November 3rd, 2020.