Gillibrand listed among leading presidential contenders for 2020
Cuomo also considered among top 10 for Democrats
File photo by Tom Rivers: U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is pictured on Oct. 27, 2014 visiting the Iroquois Job Corps in Medina. She is shown touring the carpentry shop with Michael Wisor, a carpentry instructor.
Who will run for president in 2020 for the Democrats, trying to lead the party’s quest for the White House after Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016?
Two Democrats from New York are considered among the top 10 options for Democrats in a ranking by The Hill, a political website in Washington, D.C.
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is considered the No. 5 contender and Gov. Andrew Cuomo is at No. 10. Hillary Clinton, a former US senator for New York, is ranked at No. 12.
Gillibrand followed Clinton as U.S. senator for New York. The Hill says Gillibrand’s profile has risen in nation’s capital with her push to prevent sexual assaults in the U.S. military.
“Representing New York, she has easy access to the national media and to powerful Democratic fundraising networks,” according to The Hill. “But Gillibrand’s similarities with Clinton, superficial though they may be, could go against her. It’s just not clear Democrats would roll the dice again, as soon as 2020, on another prominent female nominee from New York.”
Cuomo is considered a strong candidate “on paper,” leading a large liberal state and coming from a well-established political family, according to The Hill.
“No one doubts the younger Cuomo’s ambition, but whether he is the right fit for the times is a tougher question,” according to The Hill. “In a party where the left is ascendant, he has positioned himself as a centrist foil to New York City’s liberal mayor, Bill de Blasio. It’s not clear what Cuomo’s power base would be for a primary fight.”
The Hill considers Elizabeth Warren, the U.S. senator from Massachusetts, as the front-runner for 2020, with Bernie Sanders, the senator from Vermont, as the second leading candidate. Sanders will be 79 the next election, and that may be his biggest obstacle to the Democratic nomination.
The Hill sees a potential surprise candidate in Oprah Winfrey. Just like Trump benefitted from his celebrity in his campaign for president, Winfrey could do the same running as a Democrat.
For more on the report from The Hill, click here.
