The list is deep and wide. Everyone from Congressmen, Mayors, Senators, Governors, and even business leaders of some of the world’s largest companies. Toss in a few celebrities, and the Democratic field could be very deep in 2020. The Republican National Committee has put out a “watch list,” of sorts, to indicate the names they are keeping tabs on as the next presidential election inches closer.
The Washington Examiner reports on the list:
The potential candidates vying for the 2020 Democratic National Convention being watched and “listed” by the GOP has reached 50, and includes newcomers like Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and former 2016 nominee Hillary Clinton, who continues to hang on.
In mocking the potentials, the GOP called them the “50 Most Beautiful Democrats Running For President,” and suggested their list should be the heir to the now-canceled “50 most beautiful” Capitol Hill people published by The Hill.
“So while 2020 is still a long way away, Democrats have reason to worry about what’s shaping up to be the largest primary field ever, even if it’s not quite 50,” said Michael Ahrens, the Republican National Committee’s rapid response director in a release.
The RNC wants a huge Democratic field because it will cause more dividing of the party behind many separate factions. A larger field also means the potential for a much longer primary seasons before a winner is secured. With that in mind, realize that some of these names on the list have close to a zero percent chance of actually launching a campaign.
Here’s the entire list of potential Democratic challengers, in no particular order:
- Sen. Bernie Sanders
- Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom
- Sen. Cory Booker
- Former Sen. John Kerry
- Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg
- Mayor Eric Garcetti
- Sen. Chris Murphy
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren
- Former HUD Secretary Julián Castro
- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban
- Mayor Mitch Landrieu
- Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
- Sen. Tim Kaine
- Gov. Roy Cooper
- Former Gov. Deval Patrick
- Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz
- Sen. Kamala Harris
- Sen. Jeff Merkley
- Rep. Seth Moulton
- Former Vice President Joe Biden
- Gov. Gina Raimondo
- Sen. Mark Warner
- Gov. John Hickenlooper
- Gov. Jerry Brown
- Former first lady Michelle Obama
- Mayor Pete Buttigieg
- Rep. John Delaney
- Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe
- Former Gov. Martin O’Malley
- Sen. Amy Klobuchar
- Gov. Steve Bullock
- Gov. Jay Inslee
- Gov. Lincoln Chafee
- Mayor Bill de Blasio
- Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
- Sen. Sherrod Brown
- Former talk show host Oprah Winfrey
- Rep. Tim Ryan
- Former Secretary of State Jason Kander
- Hedge fund manager Tom Steyer
- Former Attorney General Eric Holder
- Rep. Luis Gutiérrez
- Disney CEO Bob Iger
- Actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
- Former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse
- Gov. Andrew Cuomo
- Rep. Tulsi Gabbard
- Rep. Adam Schiff
- Rep. Keith Ellison
Plenty of familiar names there, many of which we’ve organized into our list of 2020 Democratic challengers. Then there is at least one-third of the list we can probably count out right now, like Tom Steyer and/or Oprah Winfrey, for example. Many celebrities and business people toy with the idea of running for office, but to do so would mean they’d be sacrificing a lot in terms of privacy and their commercial brand. Trump went ahead with it anyway, despite the downfalls. In some ways, he may have paved the way for other non-politicians. However, he also may be showing them the pitfalls involved such as being forced to disclose lots of financial information and having all your business dealings put under the microscope.
Even if half the list ends up seriously running, that’s 25 Democrats duking it out for the chance to challenge Trump. Bring on the popcorn.
