Voltaire: Another Third Party Candidate to look at – Mark Charles (We the People.)

Hi All,

As most of you know, I have been a member of Green Party for 20 years and this is the first year that I have not personally worked on our Presidential campaign, because of those who are running it. But it does not mean that I am going to tell folks to support another candidate running and not vote Green. I will not work against my Party. As the author of this article states: “I am not necessarily attempting to convince anyone to vote for Mark. However, I do believe that we should discuss his vision for America at the very least.” 

Love,jacqui

The third-party candidate we should be talking about.

Biden and Trump are very undesirable to most voters. This has led many of us to talk about the Green Party. However, there’s another third-party candidate that deserves to be brought up in this discussion as well.

When Bernie Sanders dropped out of the Democratic Primary race earlier this year, I said I’d likely be voting for the Green Party’s candidate, Howie Hawkins. Howie even sweetened the deal by picking a socialist Black woman, Angela Walker, as his running mate. I’m not against voting for the Green Party tandem by any means, but there’s another candidate that I must admit I overlooked. I’ve written about Kanye West, who has somehow made his way onto the ballot in my home state of Virginia, though I have no intention of voting for him. Today I am writing about Mark Charles, an indigenous man that makes the most compelling argument of any Presidential candidate that I’ve ever seen.
https://youtu.be/_livxZNCQeU
I am not necessarily attempting to convince anyone to vote for Mark. However, I do believe that we should discuss his vision for America at the very least. Mark has been on my radar for a few months now. With all that’s happened in the year of our Lord 2020, it was this tweet that made me intrigued enough to learn more about him:

Mark Charles 2020@wirelesshoganIn 2018 I gave a TEDx Talk demonstrating how white supremacy is a bi-partisan value. Its titled “We the People – the Three Most Misunderstood Words in US History.” If you #VoteBlueNoMatterWho, you are voting for the status quo, which is white supremacy.
Those simple words, “If you #VoteBlueNoMatterWho, you are voting for the status quo, which is white supremacy.” These were precisely the words I was struggling to find in all of my writing and conversations about why I couldn’t vote Blue anymore. I decided to bookmark that tweet a few weeks ago. Today, I finally watched the roughly 18-minute TED Talk, and I was utterly blown away.

Mark Charles: The truth behind ‘We the People’ – the three most misunder…The son of an American woman of Dutch heritage and a Navajo man, Mark Charles offers a unique perspective on thr…
His concise analysis of why America is still to this day struggling to grapple with systemic racism and sexism is a truth-bomb. Many times, we like to say that our systems are broken. Mark argues that they’re fixed. They’re working exactly as they were intended to based on how the Constitution is written. “We The People” was never meant to include Women, Natives, or Black people. That phrase in our Constitution explicitly refers to white land-owning men.

Our founding document considers women and Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC) less than human. We know this to be true because the next several lines never mention women while referring to men several times. Later on, it excludes Natives explicitly and classifies Blacks as 3/5ths of a person. These harsh realities help us better understand our current condition.

We shouldn’t be surprised that women are still fighting for equal pay and to control their own bodies. We shouldn’t be surprised that Indigenous people have continuously had to fight to preserve the little land they have left, and that Black people are murdered on camera by state-sanctioned terrorists. Our founding document laid the foundation for these systemic injustices to manifest

These seething and sobering truths are everything I wish I’d learned in school. These demystifying and illuminating words are everything that the oppressed people of America need to hear, especially in this moment. However, accurately describing how we got to this point is not enough. His plans to correct our path is what’s critical.

Mark’s policies page maps out his plan for hitting the reset button on our country. He begins with the changes that we need to make to our Constitution. He wants to remove all of the racist and sexist language from our founding document, most notably the 13th Amendment. Charles aims to strengthen this Amendment as a means to abolish all forms of slavery in the United States entirely. Not just chattel slavery, no loophole for incarceration, but to completely abolish slavery in this country.

When we talk about systemic racism, the need for us to get directly to the root of our problems is barely ever discussed. Changing the language in the document that our entire governmental system is based on does just that. I encourage anyone, whether you plan to vote for Mark or not, to look through his policy page as a means to completely reimagine this country in this time of national uprising.

If you’ve gotten this far, you’ve probably wished that Mark had a legitimate chance to be elected our next President. Even if you’re too afraid of the political duopoly to vote for Mark, there’s no reason why we can’t incorporate his vision for America into our discourse on how to reckon with systemic racism and sexism. Throughout history, third parties in this country have risen and fallen. The most successful ones may not have broken the duopoly, but they did succeed in creating popular policy platforms that the major parties couldn’t ignore. At the very least, we, the people, must make this happen with Mark Charles’s vision for conciliation in America. We’ve already seen some things from Bernie Sanders’s platform become popularized. We can organize our way into doing the same thing with Mark’s ideas as well. Together, we can finally ensure that “We the People” really include #AllThePeople.

WRITTEN BY

Michael Daniels

MAINE VOICES: RANKED-CHOICE VOTING GIVES MAINERS ANOTHER CHANCE TO MAKE HISTORY

Hi All, I wanted to share this earlier, but the PPH would not let me view it unless I subscribed. So if you live in Maine and want to subscribe here is the link to the paper below. This is a great article on Lisa and RCV.  As always in RCV those who want to rank Lisa first can rank Sara second and those who may still want to rank Sara first can rank Lisa second. But the thing is that no one is going to rank Lisa or Sara first and rank Susan second, so this race will be between Sara and Lisa. It is up to all the people,not just the Ds and the Rs to chose who their first choice will be and for the first time with RCV the progressive Dems can rank a person who stands for their values first with out being afraid of Collins getting in. That is why we fought to hard for RCV.

Please share.

Love,jacqui

https://www.pressherald.com/2020/08/22/maine-voices-ranked-choice-voting-gives-maine-voters-another-chance-to-make-history/?fbclid=IwAR3YLp3tWTImjSREF63C808atL3CpO1W7IB60IuaMBoWM7TZBN5UmOVH9XQ

Maine Voices: Ranked-choice voting gives Mainers another chance to make history

Voters don’t have to worry that the independent will be the ‘spoiler’ of the U.S. Senate race.

By Joshua Gear

Special to the Press Herald

YORK — Once again, the voters of Maine have an opportunity to make history.

Two years ago, Jared Golden was elected to represent Maine’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives by defeating incumbent Bruce Poliquin. Golden’s election victory was secured after the votes were redistributed in the nation’s first ranked-choice voting election for Congress.

The 2020 Maine Senate race has three women on the ballot.

Susan Collins, the incumbent and Republican Party nominee, is running for a fifth six-year term. She is running against Sara Gideon, the Democratic Party nominee, and Lisa Savage, a Green Independent.

Three women, but three very different candidates.

Collins, born and raised in Maine, has a long history as a politician and is a stalwart of the Republican Party. But her claim of being a moderate has come under attack, most recently for supporting much of Donald Trump’s agenda. The Republican Party and allied political action committees have already poured tens of millions of dollars into Collins’ campaign in an effort to keep that Senate seat red.

Gideon moved to Maine 16 years ago and has served as a state representative for eight years, the last four as speaker of the Maine House. Very early in the primary cycle, her candidacy for the Democratic nomination received a huge boost from endorsements and large amounts of money from establishment organizations, including the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. These early endorsements and the money that followed came at the expense of two progressive candidates for the nomination, Betsy Sweet and Bre Kidman.

Savage is less well known and has not participated in politics at the state level. She graduated from Bowdoin College and is a public school teacher in rural Maine. She stands out from the other two candidates because of her support of progressive ideals including single-payer health care, the Green New Deal and a refusal to take money from corporate PACs or lobbyists. Instead, she relies on small-dollar donations.

Prior to the Trump presidency, there was typically little daylight between establishment candidates, whether they represented the Republican or the Democratic party. Candidates from both parties are susceptible to corporate influence through lobbyists and the millions of dollars they receive from super PACs. It could be argued that those contributions are the major reason there has been little movement toward progressive ideals.

With Donald Trump in place as the Republican Party’s standard bearer, a new difference between Republicans and Democrats has emerged.

In any other state, a candidacy by an independent like Savage would all but ensure a victory by an incumbent like Collins, as Savage would siphon off votes from Gideon.

But this is Maine. And Maine is one of two states that has an independent senator. And it is the only state that has ranked-choice voting for federal elections.

With ranked-choice voting, sometimes known as “instant runoff voting,” voters may rank their choices and by so doing are able to vote their conscience without concern that their first ranked vote might benefit a candidate who they do not support.

The winning candidate in a ranked-choice voting election needs the support of a majority of voters – more than 50 percent – not simply a plurality of voters. So if a voter’s favored candidate is not in the top two, and no candidate has a majority of the votes, a voter’s vote shifts to their second choice.

In 2018, Jared Golden initially received fewer first-place votes than Bruce Poliquin, but because neither candidate had over 50 percent support, the votes of the voters who ranked the two other candidates, Tiffany Bond and William Hoar first, went to those voters’ second choices. Most of those who voted for Bond and Hoar had put Golden down as their second choice, giving him the support of a majority of voters after the recalculation. And Golden became a U.S. representative.

This November, ranked-choice voting may once again play a defining role in an election with national implications.

At the very least, ranked-choice voting will give Mainers who care about health care for all Americans, or who want an assertive approach to climate change, or who truly want money out of politics, an opportunity to vote their conscience without fear of wasting their vote.

Maine: Request your absentee ballot here!

https://apps.web.maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/AbsenteeBallot/index.pl

IF the post office remains functional, and

And IF Comrade Trump doesn’t postpone the elections (although he may not have to considering how compromised his opponent is – despite the endorsement from Bill “I was never on Mr. Epstein’s island!” Clinton.)

The NSA is still listening.

Free Sticker! “Vote Your Future!”

“The struggle for the Voting Rights Act taught us that people who love this country can change it. Don’t give away your power – go vote.” –President Barack Obama¹

This week marks the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act being signed into law. As we commemorate this historic milestone, we must not forget to acknowledge and honor the long, hard struggle it took to get our nation to that place. Ever since the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution established citizenship for the formerly enslaved, Black people and other people of color have fought, sacrificed, and risked their lives in order to have the full benefits of citizenship—including the right to vote.

Voting is power, and this November, we’re taking our power back. For our families. For our communities. For our futures.

Join the Your Vote Is Power campaign by getting the new free sticker, designed by artist Never Made, now. Just click here or on the image below!

The grandfather clause, poll taxes, and literacy tests were just some of the ways Black people and people of color were unjustly disenfranchised for almost a century. But people fought back with the Mississippi Freedom Summer, the Selma to Montgomery marches, and many other ways in their communities.

After the Supreme Court gutted protections in the Voting Rights Act in 2013, we continue the struggle for equal and fair access to the ballot for all. The torch has been passed to us, and with this year’s elections—taking place during a global health pandemic and amid racial uprisings—we have the chance to create the future we want. We’re taking to the streets, organizing online, and lobbying our elected officials. On November 3, we’ll come together to use our greatest tactic: our vote.

Our votes are powerful. We are powerful. On November 3, we’re showing up in our power.

Click here to get our new free sticker to show that you “vote your future.”

This sticker is the third in a series of seven. Follow along to collect all seven and for more on MoveOn’s massive cultural program to inspire and turn out young voters and people of color.

Thanks for all you do.

–Mary, Michael, Evelyn, Allison, and the rest of the team

Source:

1. Tweet by President Barack Obama, August 6, 2016
https://act.moveon.org/go/141740?t=10&akid=270729%2E41173931%2EBVdJOU

Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump’s agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation’s pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your support, now more than ever. Will you stand with MoveOn?

Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.

Moveon.org – Free Sticker! “Your Vote is Power!”

People in line until after midnight in Georgia. Voters locked out of their polling places in Louisville.

“If your vote held no power, no one would try to silence you.”

The November elections will be some of the most critical elections of our lifetimes. We say it so often because it’s true. And you have a powerful role between now and November 3.

Today, MoveOn is launching Your Vote Is Power, a brand-new initiative that will use art and culture to drive voter registrations with the goal of turning out an unprecedented number of young voters and people of color this November. Your Vote Is Power is a partnership of MoveOn and Amplifier, in collaboration with emerging and leading visual artists.

In the months leading up to the November elections, MoveOn members will work to inspire new voters to go to the polls through innovative voter engagement tactics, art installations, distribution of posters, stickers, postcards, and other creative tactics that create a culture of voting.

We are offering free stickers displaying one of the initial works of art to all MoveOn members. You can get the first one right out the gate!

Become part of our Your Vote Is Power campaign by getting your free sticker, designed by artist Thomas Wimberly, now. Just click here or on the image below!

Young people and people of color, along with women, immigrants, LGBTQ people, and others, are disproportionately impacted by federal and state policies and Supreme Court rulings. But too often, they are shut out of the political conversation, are told that their votes don’t matter, or face long lines, dysfunctional systems, broken machines, and changing and arbitrarily enforced rules that prevent their votes from being cast or counted.

The past few months have been a preview of what November could look like, as people in states like Georgia, Kentucky, and Wisconsin were forced to wait in long lines for hours to vote in primaries. The longest lines were in communities of color, where, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, voters had to choose between risking their health and exercising their right to vote.

But we can change this.

By acting together, we can build a better country where everyone can thrive.

Be part of the campaign: Click here to order your free “Your Vote Is Power” sticker now, share this message with your family and friends, and join us in this fight.

Thanks for all you do.

–Michael, Amy, Mary, Rahna, and the rest of the team

Petition: Popular vote over Electoral College vote

On November 8, the American people spoke clearly, and chose Hillary Clinton for President. She won the popular vote by 2.9 million votes.

But because Clinton’s support was geographically concentrated, Donald Trump won the Electoral College and became President of the United States.

This comes only sixteen years after Al Gore won the popular vote but did not become President of the United States, in a similar affront to democracy.

It is long past time that we started using the national popular vote to choose Presidents. Every vote should count equally. Every state should be a swing state.

Sign the petition: Elect Presidents by national popular vote.

We don’t need a constitutional amendment to elect the next President by popular vote in 2020. We only need the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact:

The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among several U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their respective electoral votes to whichever presidential candidate wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The compact is designed to ensure that the candidate who wins the most popular votes is elected president, and it will come into effect only when it will guarantee that outcome. As of 2016, it has been joined by ten states and the District of Columbia; their 165 combined electoral votes amount to 30.7% of the total Electoral College vote, and 61.1% of the 270 votes needed for it to have legal force.

If states and territories totaling at least 270 electoral votes pass laws joining the National Popular Vote Compact, then the next presidential election will be determined by the winner of the national popular vote. We are already up to 165.

If we can make this a national issue broadly adopted by elected Democrats, and if Democrats can do well at the state level in the 2018 midterm elections–which is realistic in the event of an unpopular President Trump–then in 2019 we can pass laws that would make the 2020 presidential election determined by the popular vote.

(Since you might be wondering, according to the compact, states do not change the way they determine their electoral votes until enough states join that the 270 electoral vote threshold is reached. So, for example, California will only start awarding its electoral votes to the national popular vote winner instead of the state popular vote winner once states equalling 270 electoral votes have decided to do the same.)

So this is something we can actually pull off. It starts by telling all elected Democrats that whenever possible they must pass laws to have their states join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.

Add your name: Choose our Presidents by national popular vote.

Keep fighting,
Chris Bowers
Executive Campaign Director, Daily Kos

Social Security Works: Petition to grant Washington, DC Statehood.

Tell Congress: “The 710,000 residents of Washington, DC are being treated as second-class citizens without congressional representation. It’s long past time to fix this undemocratic injustice by making DC a state.” ADD YOUR VOICE Robert, Our democracy is based on a simple idea: every voter―rich or poor―has an equal say. That’s why we need to stand together and demand that Washington, DC—home to more than 700,000 people—becomes a state. Only then, will people living in our nation’s capital begin to be treated equally. Corporate elites actively work to suppress the voices of the people so that they can control the levers of power themselves. DC residents’ disenfranchisement is part of that scheme. In order to most effectively fight to protect and expand Social Security, we need to enlist the voices of all people throughout our country. Once DC is a state, their voices will be on a level playing field with the rest of the country. Join Social Security Works and our allies and sign the petition calling on elected officials and community leaders to support DC statehood. DC statehood is finally getting the national attention it deserves. In September, the House Oversight Committee held the first hearing on the issue in more than a generation, and Democratic federal officials have come out to overwhelmingly support DC Statehood. DC only won the right to vote for President of the United States in 1961. And that only happened because people in Washington, and their allies throughout the country, stood up and said, “Enough is enough!” Together, we can do it again and end the disenfranchisement of over 700,000 people. Add your name! Let’s build a national coalition to fight, once again, for the people who live in Washington, DC and end voter disenfranchisement, which is a racist affront to our democracy and our country’s struggles for civil and human rights. Washington, DC residents deserve a voice in Congress and control over their own local laws. Thank you, Michael Phelan Social Security Works

[submedia] New ‘A is for Anarchy’ Vid – What is Violence?

After more than a year-long hiatus, we’re back with new installation of our A is for Anarchy series.  This time, we explore the question of violence – a concept that is often associated with anarchists… for better or worse.  We look at the ways that violence is hidden and encoded into the very structures of society, and the role that defensive violence can play in the struggle for liberation.

You can watch the video here:
https://sub.media/video/what-is-violence/

Looking to translate the video?  You can find the video on Amara or get in touch with us at trouble@sub.media.

Also just a quick update on the fundraising front, where after nearly a month into our push, we’re slowly but surely inching towards the half-way mark.  Huge thanks to everyone who’s donated, or shared the link to our fundraising video!  If you haven’t kicked in yet, but have some cash to spare, you can make a one-time donation or sign up to be a monthly sustainer at sub.media/donate.

You can also help out our fundraising by purchasing some fresh subMedia gear at sub.media/gear.

That’s all for now

The Troublemakers @ subMedia

List help: <https://riseup.net/lists>

Who are the 2020 US Democratic presidential candidates?

The pool of candidates vying for their party’s nomination in 2020 is among the largest and most diverse in US history.

2020 Democratic presidential candidates are seen in a combination of file photos

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Less than two years out from the 2020 US presidential election, the pool of Democratic candidates vying for their party’s nomination is among the largest and most diverse in United Stateshistory.

With 21 candidates already in the race and a number of individuals yet to announce their campaign, the list is likely to grow as the US primary season gets closer.

Here is a look at who has thrown their name in the race so far:

Michael Bennet, 54

Michael Bennet has served as a US senator from Colorado since 2009. Bennet, a former head of the Denver school district, carved out a profile as a wonky, policy-oriented senator.

He gained internet fame this year for a harsh scolding of Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas over the government shutdown.

Bennet was close to launching a presidential campaign after that but had to pause it when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

In this file photo taken on April 10, 2019, US Senator Michael Bennet speaks during the North American Building Trades Unions Conference in Washington, DC [Zach Gibson/Getty Images/AFP]

Bennet’s office said last month that the senator was successfully treated. That cleared the way for his May 2 launch.

Joe Biden, 76

Joe Biden served as vice president under former President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017 after nearly four decades serving as a senator from Delaware.

Biden is the most experienced politician in the race, and the second oldest, after 77-year-old Bernie Sanders. This will be his third presidential run. His first White House bid in 1987 ended after a plagiarism scandal.

In a video announcement of his candidacy posted on Twitter on April 25, Biden focused on the 2017 deadly clash between white supremacists and counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Virginia. Biden noted US President Donald Trump‘s comments that there were some “very fine people” on both sides of the violent encounter, which left one woman dead.

“We are in the battle for the soul of this nation,” Biden said. “If we give Donald Trump eight years in the White House, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation – who we are. And I cannot stand by and watch that happen.”

Last month, Biden struggled to respond to comments from Lucy Flores, a 2014 lieutenant governor nominee in Nevada, who said he made her uncomfortable by touching her shoulders and kissing the back of her head before a campaign event. Several other women have made similar claims.

In a video, Biden pledged to be “more mindful” of respecting “personal space”, but Flores told Fox News this week that the former senator’s jokes on the matter have been “so incredibly disrespectful”.

The incident is just a glimpse of the harsh vetting from both Democrats and Republicans expected for Biden, who has run for president twice before but never from such a strong political starting position.

Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the Biden Courage Awards last month in New York [Frank Franklin II/AP Photo]

In recent weeks, he was repeatedly forced to explain his 1991 decision, as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, to allow Anita Hill to face questions about her allegations of sexual harassment against Clarence Thomas, then a nominee for the Supreme Court.

Biden has since apologised for his role in the hearing. But in the #MeToo era, it is another example of why critics believe he may struggle to catch on with the Democratic primary voters of 2020.

Cory Booker, 49

Cory Booker has served as a US senator from New Jersey – the first African American in the state’s history to hold the office – since 2013. He was the mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013.

His entry into the Democratic primary was steeped in history and symbolism, befitting his status as the second black candidate in an historically diverse field. Invoking the legacy of the national movements for civil rights and for women’s suffrage, the New Jersey senator during his candidacy announcement urged a return to a “common sense of purpose”.

Cory Booker speaks to voters during a campaign stop in Manchester, New Hampshire [File: Steven Senne/AP Photo]

Booker could face difficulty winning the hearts of the progressive Democratic base due to his past financial ties to banking and pharmaceutical interests. He said he would stop taking contributions from pharmaceutical companies in 2017.

He announced his presidential bid on February 1.

Pete Buttigieg, 37

Pete Buttigieg has served as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, since 2012.

Before that, Buttigieg was a consultant for McKinsey and company.

He is the first openly gay Democratic candidate to run for president. He announced his presidential bid on January 23, 2019.

There are no policy positions on his website. He has virtually no paid presence in the states that matter most. And his campaign manager is a high-school friend with no experience in presidential politics.

Despite this, he has suddenly become one of the hottest names in the Democrats’ presidential primary season. On the campaign trail, he has frequently spoken about the struggle to legalise same-sex marriage.

Pete Buttigieg speaks during the US Conference of Mayors winter meeting in Washington [File: Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo]

He has also repeatedly criticised Vice President Mike Pence for his view that discredits LGBTQ rights.

“I’m not critical of his faith; I’m critical of bad policies. I don’t have a problem with religion. I’m religious, too. I have a problem with religion being used as a justification to harm people and especially in the LGBTQ community,” the Indiana Democrat said in an interview with NBC’s The Ellen DeGeneres Show this month.

Buttigieg’s moment may pass if he does not take swift action to build a national organisation capable of harnessing the energy, he will need to sustain his surge in the nine months or so before the first votes are cast.

Julian Castro, 44

Julian Castro was elected mayor of San Antonio, Texas in 2009 and served until 2014.

He served as the 16th US secretary of housing and urban development (HUD) under US President Barack Obama from 2014 until 2017.

Castro, the grandson of Mexican immigrants, was raised by a local Latina activist, and after a brief career in law, he was elected mayor of the nation’s seventh-largest city at the age of 34.

Julian Castro listens as he is introduced at a gathering of Tri-City Young Democrats in Somersworth, New Hampshire, US, on January 15, 2019 [Brian Snyder/Reuters]

It was not long after that election that Democrats nationally embraced him as a star in the making, particularly one from Texas, where a booming Hispanic population is rapidly changing the state’s demographics and improving the party’s fortunes.

He announced his presidential run on January 12, 2019.

John Delaney, 56

John Delaney served as a US congressman for Maryland’s sixth district from 2013 to 2019.

Delaney, a former banking entrepreneur, is known as politically moderate with a willingness to reach across the aisle.

He has supported a measure to raise money to build infrastructure by allowing US corporations to avoid taxes when they repatriate profits overseas if they buy bonds that would be used to build infrastructure.

John Delaney stands in a food vendors building during a visit to the Iowa State Fair [File: Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo]

He announced his presidential run in a Washington Post op-ed published on July 28, 2017.

Delaney, one of the wealthiest members of Congress, was the first to announce he will seek his party’s nomination in 2020.

He said he was entering the presidential race early because he knows he will need time to build name recognition.

Tulsi Gabbard, 38

Tusi Gabbard has served as a US congresswoman from Hawaii’s second district since 2013.

Gabbard is the first Hindu member of Congress. At the age of 21, she became the youngest to be elected to a US state legislature serving on the Hawaii House of Representatives.

She has also served in the Hawaii Army National Guard in a combat zone in Iraq and was deployed to Kuwait.

She was a fierce opponent of same-sex marriage when she served in the state legislature in her 20s. But she has since disavowed those views and professes her support for LGBTQ rights.

Critics have pounced on her efforts to block the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Hawaii and a meeting she held with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Earlier this year, she penned an op-ed responding to media reports about her alleged ties to Hindu nationalists.

Tulsi Gabbard delivers a nomination speech for Senator Bernie Sanders on the second day at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia [File: Mike Segar/Reuters]

“While the headlines covering my announcement could have celebrated this landmark first, and maybe even informed Americans about the world’s third largest religion, some have instead fomented suspicion, fear and religious bigotry about not only me but also my supporters,” she wrote.

Gabbard officially launched her presidential campaign on February 2, 2019.

Kirsten Gillibrand, 52

Kirsten Gillibrand has served as a US senator from New York since 2009. Before that, Gillibrand served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2009.

Gillibrand has also worked for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. She worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2000 US Senate campaign.

She has been a vocal advocate for electing more women to office and a forceful critic of the Trump administration.

Kristen Gillibrand asks a question during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC [File: Aaron P Bernstein/Reuters]

Gillibrand, who has been a forceful public advocate for victims of sexual misconduct, came under fire for how her deputy chief of staff, Anne Bradley, handled a sexual harassment claim made by a female staffer against one of Gillibrand’s male aides.

She announced her presidential run on January 15, 2019.

Kamala Harris, 54

Kamala Harris has served as a US senator from California since 2017.

Before joining the Senate, Harris was the attorney general of California. She has also served as San Francisco district attorney.

Her track record as San Francisco’s district attorney and California’s attorney general has drawn scrutiny in a Democratic Party that has shifted in recent years on criminal justice issues.

Harris is the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India.

Senator Kamala Harris speaks to the media after announcing she will run for president of the United States [Joshua Roberts/Reuters]

She supports a middle-class tax credit, Medicare for All healthcare funding reform, the Green New Deal and the legalisation of cannabis.

She launched her presidential run on January 21, 2019.

John Hickenlooper, 67

John Hickenlooper served as the governor of Colorado from 2011 to 2019.

Before that, Hickenlooper served as the mayor of Denver from 2003 to 2011.

Hickenlooper, cofounder of the Wynkoop Brewing Company in Denver, has positioned himself as a centrist and an experienced officeholder with business experience.

John Hickenlooper speaks at the United States Conference of Mayors winter meeting in Washington, DC [File: Yuri Gripas/Reuters]

He is the only Democratic presidential candidate so far to oppose the Green New Deal plan to tackle climate change, saying it would give the government too much power in investment decisions.

He announced his presidential run on March 4, 2019.

Jay Inslee, 68

Jay Inslee has served as the governor of the state of Washington since 2013.

He has also served in both the state legislator and US House of Representatives. He was the regional director for the US Department of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton.

Jay Inslee speaks on Friday, March 1, 2019, during a campaign event at A&R Solar in Seattle [Ted S Warren/ AP Photo]

Inslee, who announced his presidential run on March 1, 2019, has made fighting climate change the central issue of his campaign.

As governor, Inslee has moved to put a moratorium on capital punishment and fully implement the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, accompanying the expansion of Medicaid health coverage for the poor.

Amy Klobuchar, 58

Amy Klobuchar served as a US senator from Minnesota since 2007, becoming her state’s first elected female senator.

Before joining the Senate, she was the Hennepin County lawyer.

Amy Klobuchar waits to speak at the Ankeny Area Democrats’ Winter Banquet on Thursday, February 21, 2019, in Des Moines, Iowa [Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo]

Klobuchar gained national attention in 2018 when she sparred with Brett Kavanaugh during Senate hearings for his Supreme Court nomination.

She announced her presidential run on February 10, 2019.

On the campaign trail, the former prosecutor and corporate lawyer supports an alternative to traditional Medicare healthcare funding and is taking a hard stance against rising prescription drug prices.

Wayne Messam, 44

Wayne Messam has served as mayor of Miramar, Florida, since 2015.

Messam grew up in South Bay, an agricultural town of 3,500 people, adjoining Lake Okeechobee. His parents emigrated from Jamaica.

Messam believes Miramar has much that the rest of the US would like to have: environmentally friendly development, high-end manufacturing and major corporate operations.

Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam poses for a portrait in Miramar [Brynn Anderson/AP Photo]

Pundits have said he is unlikely to win due to low name recognition and funding. No sitting mayor has ever won the presidency and he has a lack of political experience.

On March 28, 2019, he announced he was running for president.

Seth Moulton, 40

Seth Moulton has served as the US representative for Massachusetts’s sixth congressional district since 2015.

Moulton first came to prominence in 2014 when he unseated long-term incumbent Representative John Tierney in a Democratic primary to represent the sixth congressional district.

Moulton announced his presidential bid on April 22, 2019.

In a YouTube video announcing his presidential candidacy, he said: “Decades of division and corruption have broken our democracy and robbed Americans of their voice.”

Seth Moulton speaks at a Merrimack County Democrats Summer Social in Bow, New Hampshire [File: Brian Snyder/Reuters]

In the video, Moulton said he wants to tackle climate change and grow the US economy by promoting green jobs as well as hi-tech and advanced manufacturing.

Moulton served in the Marines from 2001 to 2008. During his 2014 congressional bid, he became a vocal critic of the war in Iraq in which he served, saying no more troops should be deployed to the country.

He has advocated stricter gun laws, saying military-style weapons should not be owned by civilians.

Beto O’Rourke, 46

Beto O’Rourke served Texas’s 16th congressional district in the House of Representatives from 2013 to 2019.

O’Rourke gained fame last year for his record fundraising and ability to draw crowds before of his unexpectedly narrow loss in the US Senate race against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz.

His Senate bid generated a torrent of media attention and excited voters in a party desperate for fresh political faces. He lost the race by fewer than three percentage points, the tightest senate contest in the state in four decades.

O’Rourke announced a $6.1m fundraising haul for the first 24 hours of his campaign, bettering his Democratic opponents.

Beto O’Rourke speaks during a campaign stop at a cafe on April 19, 2019, in Somersworth, New Hampshire [Scott Eisen/AFP]

Since his Senate bid ended, O’Rourke has worked to keep himself in the public eye, regularly staying in touch with his supporters and sitting for an interview with Oprah Winfrey.

But with progressive policies and diversity at the forefront of the party’s nominating battle, O’Rourke will face a challenge as a wealthy white man who is more moderate on several key issues than many of his competitors.

He announced his presidential bid on March 14, 2019.

Tim Ryan, 45

Ryan has served as a US House representative from Ohio’s 13th district since 2003.

He represents a northeastern Ohio area that has reportedly lost manufacturing jobs in the past few years and shifted to Republican Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

Ryan has said Trump has turned his back on those blue-collar voters who fled to him in 2016 and failed to live up his promise to revitalise the manufacturing industry.

Tim Ryan speaks at the Heartland Forum on the campus of Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa [File: Nati Harnik/AP Photo]

Ryan pledged to create jobs in new technologies and to focus on public education and access to affordable healthcare.

He first gained national attention when he unsuccessfully tried to unseat Nancy Pelosi as the House Democratic leader in 2016, arguing it was time for new leadership.

Ryan announced his presidential run on April 4, 2019.

Bernie Sanders, 77

Bernie Sanders served as a US representative for 16 years before being elected to the Senate in 2006 where he currently represents the state of Vermont.

A progressive and cofounder of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, he is the longest-serving Independent in the history of Congress.

Sanders announced his presidential run on February 19, 2019. Sanders ran an unsuccessful bid for president in 2016 after losing to Hillary Clinton.

In the 2020 race, Sanders will have to fight to stand out in a packed field of progressives touting issues he brought into the Democratic Party mainstream four years ago.

Bernie Sanders speaks as he holds one of his first campaign events in Chicago, Illinois, on March 3, 2019 [Joshua Lott/Reuters]

His proposals include free tuition at public colleges, a $15 minimum hourly wage and universal healthcare.

He benefits from strong name recognition and a robust network of small-dollar donors, helping him to raise $5.9m during his first day in the contest.

Eric Swalwell, 38

Eric Swalwell, an Iowa native, has served as a House representative from California’s 15th congressional district since 2013.

Since joining congress, Swalwell has advocated for raising the cap on the portion of salary that is subject to the Social Security payroll tax.

He has also proposed a “mobile congress” that would allow politicians to cast votes remotely from their districts.

Eric Swalwell speaks during a joint hearing of the House Committee on the Judiciary and House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform [File: Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo]

Swalwell announced his presidential bid on April 8, 2019.

He said tackling student debt and gun violence were among the reasons he jumped into the Democratic primary race.

Elizabeth Warren, 69

Elizabeth Warren has served as a US senator from Massachusetts since 2013.

Warren, known as a progressive, taught law in a number of universities and was a Harvard professor.

Warren is a leader of the party’s liberals and a fierce Wall Street critic who was instrumental in creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Earlier this year, she apologised to the Cherokee Nation for taking a DNA test to prove her claims to Native American ancestry, an assertion that has prompted Trump to mockingly refer to her as “Pocahontas”.

Elizabeth Warren addresses the Rev Al Sharpton’s National Action Network during a post-midterm election at the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill [File: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP]

She announced her presidential run on February 9, 2019. She has promised to fight what she calls a rigged economic system that favours the wealthy.

She recently unveiled a student loan forgiveness proposal that would cancel up to $50,000 of debt for millions of Americans. She also supports free college tuition for students at two and four-year institutions.

Marianne Williamson, 66

Marianne Williamson is an author, entrepreneur and activist. Williamson is the founder of Project Angel Food, a volunteer food delivery programme serving home-bound people with life-changing illnesses.

She is also cofounder of the Peace Alliance, an education and advocacy organisation.

The Texas native believes her spirituality-focused campaign can heal the US.

Marianne Williamson meets with child care advocates at the Nevada State Legislature in Carson City, Nevada [Bob Strong/Reuters]

A 1992 interview on Oprah Winfrey’s show propelled her to make a name for herself as a “spiritual guide” for Hollywood and a self-help expert.

She is calling for $100bn in reparations for slavery over 10 years, gun control, education reform and equal rights for lesbian and gay communities. In 2014, she made an unsuccessful bid for a House seat in California as an independent.

She announced her presidential run on January 29, 2019.

Andrew Yang, 44

Andrew Yang is the founder of Venture for America. In 2012, the Obama administration selected him as a Champion of Change.

In 2015, he was selected as Presidential Ambassador of Global Entrepreneurship.

He filed with the Federal Election Commission to run for president in 2020 on November 6, 2017.

The entrepreneur and former tech executive is focusing his campaign on an ambitious universal income plan.

Andrew Yang arrives at a town hall meeting in Cleveland on Sunday, February 24, 2019 [Phil Long/AP Photo]

Yang wants to guarantee all American citizens between the ages of 18 and 64 a $1,000 cheque every month.

The son of immigrants from Taiwan, Yang also is pushing for Medicare for All and proposing a new form of capitalism that is “human-centred”.

North Carolina Orders New Congressional Election Due to GOP Voting Fraud

FEB 22, 2019

The North Carolina State Board of Elections has thrown out the results of November’s congressional race in the 9th District and ordered a new election, after more evidence came to light of a Republican effort to tamper with absentee ballots. The race had pitted Republican Mark Harris against Democrat Dan McCready. Harris initially appeared to be the narrow winner, but the race was never certified. For months Harris, who is a Baptist preacher, had insisted his campaign did nothing illegal, but on Thursday he called for a new election. This came a day after Harris’s own son—Assistant U.S. Attorney John Harris—testified that he had warned his father about hiring a longtime political operative who had a record of illegally collecting absentee ballots and in some cases filling them out in favor of Republican candidates. North Carolina’s Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper praised the board’s decision, saying it “sends a strong message that election fraud must not be tolerated.” President Trump—who has repeatedly warned about Democrats stealing elections—has yet to comment about the latest news from North Carolina.