The next presidential election is roughly a year and a half away, yet campaigning has begun for some candidates and will be beginning for others soon enough. The 2020 election has a record number of women running for the presidency for the final resistance push into breaking the “highest, hardest glass ceiling: the Oval Office.” As of the time this article was published, there are six phenomenal women running for office as well as one that might run, according to The New York Times. While they are running on behalf of the Democratic Party, they all have different experiences and have unique ideas to offer. Keep reading to meet the strong females in the run for the United States’ 2020 Presidency!
1. Tulsi Gabbard (37)
Currently, she is a U.S. Congresswoman serving under Hawaii’s congressional district since 2013 as the first Samoan American and Hindu member. These are not the only “firsts” she has been a part of: in 2002 she was elected into the Hawaii House of Representatives as the youngest women ever at the age of 21. Aside from her career as a politician, she also served in the Hawaii National Guard, served in a field medical unit for 15 years, and has been deployed twice to the Middle East.
Supports:
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Abortion rights
- Medicare for all
- Same-sex marriage
Criticizes:
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Trans-Pacific partnership
- Interventionalism in Iraq, Libya, and Syria
- “I’ve seen firsthand the cost of war. I know who pays the price. This is why I fight so hard for peace, security, and freedom,” says Gabbard in a Marie Claire article.
Signature Issue:
She opposes overseas military intervention such as the Syrian conflict. She fears at this rate we could possibly end up in a nuclear war, and through ending “counterproductive regime change wars,” the United States could have a stable future.
2. Kirsten Gillibrand (52)
Gillibrand serves as the junior United States Senator from New York since 2009 and was even a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2009 in a conservative House district. As a New York attorney, Gillibrand served in government and was part of Hillary Clinton’s 2000 U.S. Senate campaign.
Supports:
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Paid family leave
-
Federal jobs guarantee
- Abolition and replacement of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Criticizes:
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Sexual assault in the military
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Sexual harassment
- Criticized former President Bill Clinton and Senator Al Franken for sexual misconduct
Signature Issue:
Kirsten Gillibrand places equality and opportunity for women at the forefront of her agenda. While she believes that Washington is broken, her recommendation on why women should run for office is “if you want to fix it, you need to change the players list. You need to change who has a seat at the table, who are being heard, and who’s able to work on solving our country’s greatest problems.”
3. Kamala Harris (54)
Kamala Harris is an American attorney and politician who has been heavily involved in politics since the 1990s. Currently, she holds the position of the junior United States Senator from California and has since 2017. Prior to this position, she was the 32nd Attorney General of California from 2011 to 2017, and was the District Attorney of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011.
Supports:
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Medicare for all
-
Legalization of recreational marijuana
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Sanctuary cities
- Passing a DREAM Act
- Lowering taxes for the working and middle classes while raising taxes on corporations and the wealthiest top one percent of Americans
Criticizes:
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Three-strikes law
Signature Issue:
Kamala Harris’ signature issue includes “making America work for working families.” She has created a signature initiative called the Lift Act which “would give families making less than $100,000 a year a $6,000 tax credit that they can receive at up to $500 a month.” In other words, she would like to make middle-class tax cuts while raising taxes on the one percent.
4. Amy Klobuchar (58)
Currently, Klobuchar serves as the senior United States Senator from Minnesota. Previously, she was county attorney for Hennepin County, making her in charge of all criminal prosecution in 1998. In 2006, she was elected to be Minnesota’s first female U.S. Senator and was reelected in 2012 and 2018.
Supports:
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Abortion rights
-
LGBTQ+ rights
- Obamacare
Criticizes:
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Iraq War
- Democrats focusing on reclaiming swing states
Signature Issue:
Klobuchar wants to tackle head on the opioid crisis and drug addiction, whilst bring attention to the cost of prescription drugs. She also believes more women should run for office as they get results and “women in the Senate work better across the aisle; we introduce more bills together.”
5. Elizabeth Warren (69)
Since 2013, Warren has served as the Massachusetts senior United States Senator. Although Warren was registered as a Republican from 1991 to 1996, she began to vote Democratic in 1995 because she did not believe that Republicans “were people who best supported markets.” Her focus throughout her entire political life has been on consumer protection, the social safety net, and economic protection. She became more known during the 2007-2008 financial crisis as she made her voice heard in favor of more stringent banking regulations. She has taught law at different national universities such as the University of House, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard University.
Supports:
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions
- Making public college free
- Medicare for all
Criticizes:
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Believes the U.S. should withdraw troops from countries like Iraq and Syria
- Opposes President Trump’s trade policies (NAFTA)
Signature Issue:
Elizabeth Warren believes in income equality and aims to work against inequality while believing that the working class is being attacked by big companies and political corruption.
6. Marianne Williamson (66)
Unlike the political figures stated above, Williamson is an author of thirteen books, a lecturer and an activist. She founded Project Angel Food which aims to serve “homebound people with AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses.” Additionally, she co-founded The Peace Alliance which is a “non-profit grassroots education and advocacy organization supporting peace-building projects.” While she ran to become representative for California’s 33rd congressional district as an independent in 2014, she unfortunately did not get elected.
Supports:
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Greater access to high-quality education and free college
- Medicare for all
- Green new deal
- Criminal justice reform
- $15 minimum wage
- Glass-Steagall legislation
Criticizes:
- Perpetual war
- Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Signature Issue:
As a writer and activist, Marianna Williamson wants to heal our government through many different reforms including criminal justice, equality, environmental and economic. At the same time, she has “proposed $100 billion in reparations for slavery with $10 billion to be distributed annually for a decade” in forms of economic and education projects.
These are some fast facts about the women running for office. If you are interested in reading more about them, please do! They are all very interesting ladies with compelling backgrounds and ideas to give. It is amazing that we have a plurality of women running for office this year and hopefully more to come! Here’s to knowing that the sky’s the limit and that six brave women are breaking the glass ceilings in so many positions for future generations to come.
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