This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Winona chapter.
The 2020 Presidential Election is fast approaching. I have heard this phrase too many times: “I don’t even know who is in the running.” Lucky for you, I definitely have been keeping up with the Presidential Candidates. From debates to poll numbers, I try my hardest to keep myself updated. Now, I am going to update those of you who don’t know the candidates yet.
Due to the election for the last Presidential Term, many people are running for President. Get ready to learn about your top six Democratic Presidential Candidates, for one of them may be the next leader of the free world.
Note: The following candidates are in alphabetical order by last name. With the top six democratic candidates, each explanation will contain the beliefs of the candidate based on different topics. Definitions of topics can be found at the bottom of the article.
- Death Penalty/Capital Punishment: Wants to get rid of it entirely
- Minimum Wage: Raise to $15 per hour
- Cost of College: Two years should be free
- Nuclear Power: Create new nuclear power technology
- Farming: Pay farmers to use environmentally-friendly techniques
- Gun Control: Voluntary buyback program for assault weapons and supports universal background checks
- Abortion: Maintain some limits
- Immigration: Keep DACA by giving citizenship to Dreamers and leave the current statute in place regarding illegal entry
- Legalizing Marijuana: Wants to legalize and decriminalize it
- Military: Increase defense budget and maintain deployed troops overseas
- Taxes: Raise corporate taxes but not as much as before 2017 and increase taxes on the Upper-Class Americans
- International Trade: Shouldn’t use tariffs to pressure countries
- Death Penalty/Capital Punishment: Wants to get rid of it
- Income Inequality: Support workers and rural America
- Minimum Wage: Raise to $15 per hour
- Cost of College: Students shouldn’t have to worry about paying for school
- Electoral College: Should be eliminated
- Felon Voting: Voting rights after prison should be restored
- Nuclear Power: Supports nuclear power
- Farming: Pay farmers to use environmentally-friendly techniques
- Gun Control: Voluntary buyback program for assault weapons, supports universal background checks and gun licensing programs
- Abortion: Few to no limits
- Drug Costs: Break and get rid of patents on medicine
- Immigration: Keep DACA by giving citizenship to Dreamers and repeal the current statute in place regarding illegal entry
- Legalizing Marijuana: Legalize it
- Military: Increase defense budget and bring troops home
- Taxes: Reverse the 2017 corporate tax cut and increase taxes on the Upper-Class Americans
- International Trade: Shouldn’t use tariffs to pressure countries
- Death Penalty/Capital Punishment: Wants to get rid of it
- Minimum Wage: Raise to $15 per hour
- Cost of College: Two years should be free
- Electoral College: Should be eliminated
- Nuclear Power: Supports nuclear power
- Farming: Pay farmers to use environmentally-friendly techniques
- Gun Control: Create a ban on all assault weapons and supports universal background checks
- Abortion: Some limits
- Drug Costs: Break and get rid of patents on medicine
- Immigration: Keep DACA by giving citizenship to Dreamers and is open to additional wall funding in broader immigration legislation
- Legalizing Marijuana: Legalize it
- Military: Decrease the defense budget and keep troops deployed
- Taxes: Raise corporate taxes but not as much as before 2017 and increase taxes on the Upper-Class Americans
- International Trade: Should use tariffs to crack down on specific countries
- Death Penalty/Capital Punishment: Wants to get rid of it
- Income Inequality: Supports raising taxes on the wealthy
- Minimum Wage: Raise to $15 per hour
- Cost of College: College should be completely free and student debt should be eliminated
- Electoral College: Should be eliminated
- Felon Voting: Voting should be allowed while incarcerated
- Nuclear Power: Should close down existing nuclear reactors
- Oil and Gas Drilling: Should be banned everywhere
- Farming: Should break up agribusiness, universal free meals in schools, expand farm worker protections, and pay farmers to use environmentally-friendly techniques
- Gun Control: Voluntary buyback program for assault weapons and supports universal background checks
- Abortion: Few to no limits
- Medicare: Fully supports medicare for all
- Drug Costs: Break and get rid of patents on medicine
- Immigration: Keep DACA by giving citizenship to Dreamers, repeal the current statute in place regarding illegal entry, and doesn’t support additional wall funding
- Legalizing Marijuana: Legalize it
- Military: Decrease the defense budget and bring troops home
- Taxes: Wants to create special taxes on wealth and financial trade and eliminate taxes on corporate “offshoring”
- International Trade: Should use tariffs to crack down on specific countries
- Death Penalty/Capital Punishment: Wants to get rid of it
- Farming: Pay farmers to use environmentally-friendly techniques
- Gun Control: Voluntary buyback program for assault weapons, supports universal background checks and supports a national firearm registry
- Immigration: Keep DACA by giving citizenship to Dreamers, repeal the current statute in place regarding illegal entry, and doesn’t support additional wall funding
- Legalizing Marijuana: Legalize it
- Military: Create special taxes on wealth
- Death Penalty/Capital Punishment: Wants to get rid of it
- Income Inequality: Supports raising taxes on the wealthy
- Minimum Wage: Raise to $15 per hour
- Cost of College: College should be completely free and some student debt should be eliminated
- Electoral College: Should be eliminated
- Felon Voting: Voting rights after prison should be restored
- Oil and Gas Drilling: Should be banned everywhere
- Farming: Should break up agribusiness and pay farmers to use environmentally-friendly techniques
- Gun Control: Create a ban on all assault weapons and supports universal background checks
- Abortion: Few to no limits
- Drug Costs: The government should make drugs
- Immigration: Keep DACA by giving citizenship to Dreamers, repeal the current statute in place regarding illegal entry, and doesn’t support additional wall funding
- Legalizing Marijuana: Legalize it
- Military: Decrease the defense budget and bring troops home
- Taxes: Create special taxes on wealth and raise taxes on some corporations beyond the 2017 rate
- International Trade: Should use tariffs to crack down on specific countries
That was probably a lot of information to take in, and I totally understand that! If you want to, you can bookmark this page and the links to look back on later. Don’t forget to register to vote and exercise your right to have your voice heard!
Definitions:
Death penalty/capital punishment, income inequality, minimum wage, electoral college, felon voting, oil and gas drilling, nuclear power, abortion, immigration, marijuana