Meet Some of the 2020 Presidential Candidates

With the 2020 election less than two years away, there are now more than two dozen applicants on the list — with a variety of backgrounds. Here are some of the noteworthy names.

Andrew Yang

Yang, Venture for America’s 44-year-old founder (described as “a Teach for America for Entrepreneurs” by the New York Times), has been running for president for over a year. He has constructed his campaign on a commitment to provide every American adult with a universal basic income of $1,000 a month.

Yang pushes such a strategy as a reaction to what he thinks could be a financial disaster caused by increased automation, leaving many Americans without jobs, according to the Times.

“I’m a capitalist and I believe that universal basic income is necessary for capitalism to continue,” he tells the paper last year.

“I know the country my sons will grow up in is going to be very different than the one I grew up in,” Yang says on his campaign site, “and I want to look back at my life knowing I did everything in my power to create the kind of future our children deserve.”

According to PBS, Yang lately passed the donor threshold for inclusion among Democratic primary applicants in upcoming discussions where he is likely to create the greatest splash among those without official political experience.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren

The 69-year-old Massachusetts Democrat started her presidential bid at the end of December.

The former teacher of bankruptcy legislation at Harvard — who drew headlines for a DNA test she took to demonstrate she has Native American ancestry — is renowned for promoting more restrictions on Wall Street and large business. She was an advisor to President Obama before entering the Senate.

“If you work hard and play by the rules, you ought to be able to take care of yourself and the people you love,” Warren said in her announcement video.

“We can make our democracy work for all of us,” she continued. “We can make our economy work for all of us.”

Rep. John Delaney

Delaney, a 55-year-old businessman, and former Maryland Congressional representative was running for president almost as soon as President Donald Trump was in office: according to Bostion radio station WBUR, he announced his campaign in July 2017.

Hillary Clinton’s surprising loss “made me say, ‘We have to think differently about everything,” Delaney told WBUR. “We really need to move to a bit of a post-partisan world where we actually start solving problems.”

Delaney described more moderate positions in his interview with WBUR than many of his Democratic peers. He said, for instance, that he promotes “a universal health care system where every American has health care as a basic right” but does not believe in a “Medicare-for-all” backed by the government.

He also said that he thinks in a border safety compromise that involves some physical obstacles between the U.S. and Mexico.

Julian Castro

The former residential and urban development secretary, 44, announced that he was running in San Antonio, Texas, in January, where he was mayor before entering the administration of President Barack Obama. He would become the first Latino president of the country if elected.

Castro, raised by his grandma, a Mexican immigrant, is a long-standing proponent of LGBTQ rights and early childhood education and battled for federal funding to jump green jobs in 2010.

“I am not a frontrunner in this race, but I have not been a frontrunner at any time in my life,” before his official announcement. “My family’s story is a testament to what is possible when this country gets it right.”

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard

The 37-year-old Iraq War veteran, who in the House of Representatives represents sections of Hawaii, announced she was running in January. Gabbard is both the Congress ‘ first member of American Samoan and Hindu. According to Vox, an economic progressive and critical of America’s armed operations overseas, she has been scrutinized for being socially conservative, although she has reversed some of her positions and is pro-choice and now promotes same-sex marriage.

“There are a lot of challenges that are facing the American people that I’m concerned about and that I want to help solve,” when she made her announcement. She added that in her campaign, health care, reform of criminal justice and climate change would be the main problems.