2020 Democratic Party presidential candidates
Candidates associated with the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries for the 2020 United States presidential election:
Major candidates
Candidates who are on the ballot in a minimum of fifteen states. former Vice President Joe Biden became the presumptive presidential nominee by amassing enough delegates to secure the nomination. The nomination will be made official at the 2020 Democratic National Convention, tentatively scheduled for August 17–20, 2020 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Presumptive nominee
Withdrew during the primaries
Candidates who were major candidates who withdrew or suspended their campaigns after the Iowa caucuses or succeeding primary elections.| Candidate | Born | Experience | State | Campaign announced | Campaign suspended | Article | Refs |
Bernie Sanders | Brooklyn, New York | U.S. senator from Vermont U.S. representative from VT-AL Mayor of Burlington, Vermont Candidate for President in 2016 | April 8, 2020 | Campaign FEC filing | |||
Tulsi Gabbard | Leloaloa, American Samoa | U.S. representative from HI-02 Member of the Honolulu City Council Member of the Hawaii House of Representatives | Campaign FEC filing | ||||
Elizabeth Warren | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | U.S. senator from Massachusetts | Exploratory Committee: December 31, 2018 | Campaign FEC filing | |||
Michael Bloomberg | Boston, Massachusetts | Mayor of New York City, New York CEO of Bloomberg L.P. | Exploratory committee: | Campaign FEC filing | |||
Amy Klobuchar | Plymouth, Minnesota | U.S. senator from Minnesota | 2 3 2020 | Campaign FEC filing | |||
| Pete Buttigieg | South Bend, Indiana | Mayor of South Bend, Indiana | Campaign FEC filing | ||||
Tom Steyer | Manhattan, New York | Hedge fund manager Founder of Farallon Capital, Beneficial State Bank, and NextGen America | Campaign FEC filing | ||||
Deval Patrick | Chicago, Illinois | Governor of Massachusetts | Campaign FEC filing | ||||
Michael Bennet | New Delhi, India | U.S. senator from Colorado | | Campaign FEC filing | |||
Andrew Yang | Schenectady, New York | Entrepreneur Founder of Venture for America Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship | Campaign FEC filing |
Withdrew before Iowa caucuses but remained on ballots
Candidates withdrew too late to remove their names from several state ballots and remained on at least two:| Candidate | Born | Experience | State | Campaign announced | Campaign suspended | Article | Ref. |
John Delaney | Wood-Ridge, New Jersey | U.S. representative from MD-06 | Campaign FEC filing | ||||
Cory Booker | Washington, D.C. | U.S. senator from New Jersey Mayor of Newark, New Jersey | Campaign FEC filing | ||||
Marianne Williamson | Houston, Texas | Author Founder of Project Angel Food Independent candidate for U.S. House from CA-33 in 2014 | Exploratory committee: | Campaign | |||
Julián Castro | San Antonio, Texas | Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Mayor of San Antonio, Texas | Campaign | ||||
Kamala Harris | Oakland, California | U.S. senator from California Attorney General of California | Campaign FEC filing | ||||
Steve Bullock | Missoula, Montana | Governor of Montana Attorney General of Montana | Campaign FEC filing | ||||
Joe Sestak | Secane, Pennsylvania | U.S. representative from PA-07 Former Vice Admiral of the United States Navy | Campaign FEC filing |
Withdrew without appearing on primary ballots
Candidates who were major candidates who withdrew or suspended their campaigns before the 2020 Democratic primary elections began and are not on the ballot for the presidential primaries anywhere.| Candidate | Born | Experience | State | Campaign announced | Campaign suspended | Article | Ref. |
Wayne Messam | South Bay, Florida | Mayor of Miramar, Florida | Exploratory committee: | Campaign FEC filing | |||
Beto O'Rourke | El Paso, Texas | U.S. representative from TX-16 | Campaign FEC filing | ||||
Tim Ryan | Niles, Ohio | U.S. representative from OH-13 U.S. representative from OH-17 | Campaign FEC filing | ||||
Bill de Blasio | Manhattan, New York | Mayor of New York City, New York | Campaign FEC filing | ||||
Kirsten Gillibrand | Albany, New York | U.S. senator from New York U.S. representative from NY-20 | Exploratory committee: | Campaign FEC filing | |||
Seth Moulton | Salem, Massachusetts | U.S. representative from MA-06 | Campaign FEC filing | ||||
Jay Inslee | Seattle, Washington | Governor of Washington U.S. representative from WA-01 | Campaign FEC filing | ||||
| John Hickenlooper | Narberth, Pennsylvania | Governor of Colorado Mayor of Denver, Colorado | Campaign FEC filing | ||||
| Mike Gravel | Springfield, Massachusetts | U.S. senator from Alaska Candidate for President in 2008 Candidate for Vice President of the United States in 1972 | Exploratory committee: | Campaign FEC filing | |||
| Eric Swalwell | Sac City, Iowa | U.S. representative from CA-15 | Campaign FEC filing | ||||
Richard Ojeda | Rochester, Minnesota | West Virginia state senator from WV-SD07 | Campaign FEC filing |
Other candidates
On the ballot in at least one state
There are over 1,200 who have filed with the FEC declaring that they are candidates; however, very few have actually made the effort to get their names on the ballot anywhere. The following have:- Mosie Boyd, Arkansas
- Steve Burke, New York
- Nathan Bloxham, Utah
- Jason Evritte Dunlap, Maryland
- Michael A. Ellinger, California
- Roque De La Fuente III‡, California
- Ben Gleib, California
- Mark Stewart Greenstein, Connecticut
- Henry Hewes, New York
- Tom Koos, California
- Zoilo Adalia, California
- Lorenz Kraus, New York
- Rita Krichevsky, New Jersey
- Raymond Michael Moroz, New York
- David Lee Rice, West Virginia
- Sam Sloan, New York
- David John Thistle, Massachusetts
- Thomas James Torgesen, New York
- Robby Wells, Georgia
‡Roque De La Fuente III is the son of perennial candidate Rocky De La Fuente and is not the same individual.
Not on the ballot anywhere
Individuals who did not meet the criteria to become major candidates have either formally terminated their campaigns or did not attempt to get on the ballot in a single contest:- Harry Braun, renewable energy consultant and researcher; Democratic nominee for U.S. representative from AZ-01 in 1984 and 1986
- Ami Horowitz, conservative activist and documentary filmmaker
- Brian Moore, activist; Green nominee for U.S. Senate from Florida in 2006; Socialist and Liberty Union nominee for president in 2008
- Ken Nwadike Jr., documentary filmmaker, motivational speaker, and peace activist
- Scott Walker, Republican nominee for Delaware's at-large congressional district in 2018
Declined to be candidates
These individuals have been the subject of presidential speculation, but have publicly denied or recanted interest in running for president.
- Stacey Abrams, former Georgia state representative; Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia in 2018
- Michael Avenatti, attorney from California
- Tammy Baldwin, U.S. senator from Wisconsin
- Richard Blumenthal, U.S. Senator from Connecticut since 2011
- Jerry Brown, former governor of California '
- Sherrod Brown, U.S. senator from Ohio '
- Cheri Bustos, U.S. Representative from Illinois since 2013, former journalist and health executive
- Bob Casey Jr., U.S. senator from Pennsylvania '
- Lincoln Chafee, Governor of Rhode Island 2011–2015; U.S. Senator 1999–2007; candidate for President in 2016
- Chelsea Clinton, First Daughter of the United States 1993–2001
- Hillary Clinton, former secretary of State, former U.S. senator from New York, former first lady of the United States, presidential candidate in 2008, Democratic nominee for president in 2016
- George Clooney, actor, filmmaker, activist, businessman, and philanthropist from Kentucky
- Tim Cook, business executive, industrial engineer, and developer from California
- Stephen Colbert, comedian, television host, actor, and writer; candidate for President in 2008
- Roy Cooper, Governor of North Carolina '
- Mark Cuban, businessman, investor, author, television personality, and philanthropist from Texas
- Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York '
- Mark Dayton, former Governor of Minnesota
- Howard Dean, former Governor of Vermont, former DNC Chair
- Jamie Dimon, business executive from Illinois
- John Bel Edwards, Governor of Louisiana since 2016
- Rahm Emanuel, former mayor of Chicago, former White House Chief of Staff
- Russ Feingold, Former Senator from Wisconsin
- Al Franken, former U.S. senator from Minnesota
- Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles, California '
- Andrew Gillum, former mayor of Tallahassee, Florida; Democratic nominee for governor of Florida in 2018
- Al Gore, former vice president of the United States; former U.S. senator from Tennessee; Democratic nominee for president in 2000
- Luis Gutiérrez, former U.S. representative from Illinois
- Eric Holder, former United States attorney general
- Bob Iger, chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company
- Dwayne Johnson, actor and former professional wrestler
- Doug Jones, U.S. Senator from Alabama since 2018
- Tim Kaine, U.S. senator from Virginia; former governor of Virginia; Democratic nominee for vice president in 2016 '
- Jason Kander, Secretary of State of Missouri 2013–2017; Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2016
- John Kasich, former Governor of Ohio, former Representative from Ohio's 12th congressional district, 2016 Republican presidential candidate
- Caroline Kennedy, U.S. Ambassador to Japan 2013–2017
- Joe Kennedy III, U.S. representative from Massachusetts' '
- John Kerry, former secretary of State; former U.S. senator from Massachusetts; Democratic presidential nominee in 2004
- Mitch Landrieu, former mayor of New Orleans; former lieutenant governor of Louisiana
- Sean Patrick Maloney, United States Representative for New York's 18th congressional district
- Terry McAuliffe, former governor of Virginia '
- William H. McRaven, United States Navy Admiral 1977–2014
- Jeff Merkley, U.S. senator from Oregon '
- Chris Murphy, U.S. senator from Connecticut
- Phil Murphy, Governor of New Jersey '
- Gavin Newsom, Governor of California '
- Michelle Obama, former first lady of the United States from Illinois
- Martin O'Malley, former governor of Maryland; candidate for President in 2016 '
- Ron Perlman, actor
- Gina Raimondo, Governor of Rhode Island
- Joe Sanberg, entrepreneur and investor from California '
- Joe Scarborough, talk show host; former Republican U.S. representative from Florida
- Adam Schiff, U.S. representative from California '
- Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks from Washington>
- Jon Tester, U.S. senator from Montana '
- Mark Warner, U.S senator from Virginia former Governor of Virginia
- Maxine Waters, U.S. representative from California '
- Jim Webb, Former Senator from Virginia, former 2016 Democratic Candidate
- Frederica Wilson, U.S. Representative from Florida since 2011
- Oprah Winfrey, television host and network executive from California
- Mark Zuckerberg, technology executive from California