America is less than two years away from electing the 46th President of the United States. It seems like 2016 was just yesterday and now, before we know it, the cycle is about to begin again. Ever since the race of 2016 ended with Donald J. Trump becoming the President, people were beginning to investigate who would choose to run in 2020. Now, almost four years later, we have an idea on who is running and who the next potential President may be.
It's no surprise to anyone that President Donald Trump immediately decided to run for re-election for a second term. The real question is, will he win again? I have talked to many people about this and I always get mixed responses. However, there is always a possibility that he will not get re-elected. However, there will need to be a candidate who would be able to win over the American people.
Within the past couple of weeks, there have been new announcements from a few people that announced their candidacy. One of the first people to make an announcement was Senator Elizabeth Warren (D) from Massachusetts. Before joining the Senate, she was an advisor to President Obama and her goals are to make democracy work for all and not only some. Another congresswoman, Tulsi Gabbard (D), announced she would also be running. She is an Iraq War veteran and represents a part of Hawaii. Her goals are to campaign about improving criminal justice reform, healthcare, and climate change. After being criticized for having a Republican view on social issues, she claims to have changed her perspective on a lot of things.
Another person to keep your eye on is Julian Castro (D). He was a part of President Obama's Administration working as his former HUD secretary. He has always been passionate about LGBTQ+ rights, childhood education, and fought for federal funding to help "green jobs". And lastly, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand made her announcement on January 15th. She has advocated strongly about gun reform and rights for LGBTQ+ and for people of color. There still may be more potential candidates like Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris. But until they make a formal announcement, we will not know for sure.
So far, the new candidates running each have the chance of creating history. We may see the first female president, the first Latino president, and the first American Samoan and Hindu president. I anticipate this election to be very interesting. Will there be a candidate that can win over the American people and replace Donald Trump in the White House. While it is still too early to know for sure, we will just have to watch the debates to find out!
And even though we are still about two years away from the voting season, I want to encourage everyone to participate in the upcoming election; whether that's helping with a campaign, volunteering at the polls, and VOTING. I cannot stress enough how important voting is, no matter if you're Democrat or Republican. This election is up to us, the people.
