Former Texas lawmaker Beto O’Rourke, seen here in a recent appearance in Iowa, has shaken up the already crowded Democratic field of presidential aspirants (CHIP SOMODEVILLA)

Washington (AFP) – Former Texas lawmaker Beto O’Rourke and New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand have formally launched their bids for the Democratic presidential nomination, joining a crowded field vying to challenge Republican Donald Trump in 2020.

The pool of Democratic candidates for the White House is among the largest and most diverse ever.

It includes female US senators, a current and a former governor, African-Americans, a Hispanic and a young gay mayor, and is likely to grow before the US primary season gets underway next year.

The Democratic nominating convention opens on July 13, 2020, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Here are the party’s main contenders vying to be on the 2020 ballot.

– Beto O’Rourke –

During a frenetic, if failed, campaign for the US Senate last year in Texas, the 46-year-old O’Rourke used his youth, energy and camera-friendly good looks to become a media darling while setting fundraising records and drawing support from a range of celebrities.

Despite a reputation forged in his three terms in Congress as a pragmatic centrist, O’Rourke launched his campaign in Iowa on a decidedly left-leaning platform, calling for health and immigration reform, a higher minimum wage and an all-out battle to curb climate change.

His resolutely positive message, with calls for “kindness (and) decency” — along with his criticisms of an “unfair, unjust and racist capitalist economy” — have drawn large and often youthful crowds wherever he appears. 

– Kirsten Gillibrand –

The New York senator, who this week formally joined the Democratic race, had made a name campaigning against sexual abuse, especially in the military, even before the #MeToo movement gained national prominence.

The 52-year-old, a fierce Trump critic, is making gender and women’s issues a hallmark of her campaign.

She has called for a more egalitarian society and wants to improve the nation’s health and education systems.

– Bernie Sanders –

The 77-year-old Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, was an outsider when the 2016 Democratic primaries began.

But he gave favorite Hillary Clinton a run for her money with his calls for a “political revolution” and battled her down to the wire.

Sanders won passionate support among young liberals with his calls for universal health care, a $15 minimum wage and free public university education.

– Amy Klobuchar –

The 58-year-old granddaughter of an iron miner, Klobuchar is a former prosecutor with an unpretentious demeanor.

She has quietly gained attention in Washington as a centrist. Klobuchar is known for putting partisanship aside to pass legislation, something that has earned her a devoted following in Minnesota.

Klobuchar has promised more stringent gun laws and set a target of universal health care.

– Elizabeth Warren –

At 69, the US Senate’s consumer protection champion from Massachusetts is on the party’s left flank. She built her reputation by holding Wall Street accountable for its missteps. 

Warren is considered to have one of the best campaign organizations of any Democrat. Her campaign has been dogged, however, by her past claims of Native American heritage, and Trump mockingly refers to her as “Pocahontas.”

– Cory Booker –

The 49-year-old US senator from New Jersey announced his candidacy February 1, evoking the civil rights movement as he promised to work to unite a divided America.

Often compared to former president Barack Obama, Booker began his career as a community activist and rose to prominence as mayor of Newark, New Jersey.

A talented orator, Booker was elected to the US Senate in 2013, the first African-American senator from the eastern state.

– Kamala Harris –

The barrier-breaking senator from California who aspires to be the nation’s first black female president announced her candidacy on a day honoring slain civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.

The daughter of an Indian immigrant medical researcher mother and a Jamaican economist father, Harris, 54, began her career as a district attorney in San Francisco before serving as California’s attorney general. 

– Julian Castro –

A cabinet member under Obama and grandson of a Mexican immigrant, Castro announced his candidacy in English and Spanish on January 12 in the heat of the debate on immigration and border security. 

At 44, the former mayor of San Antonio, Texas hopes to become the nation’s first Hispanic president.

– Tulsi Gabbard –

At just 37, Gabbard, a congresswoman from Hawaii, would be the first Hindu president. 

A supporter of Sanders in the 2016 race, military veteran Gabbard was criticized for meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad during that country’s civil war, and for anti-gay positions that she has since retracted and apologized for.

– Pete Buttigieg –

The 37-year-old South Bend, Indiana, mayor joined the race with a resolutely future-looking and optimistic message to counter Trump’s darker vision.

A Rhodes Scholar, Buttigieg would be the first openly gay presidential nominee of either major party.

A US Navy reserve officer, he put his mayoral duties aside to serve in Afghanistan in 2014.

– Jay Inslee –

Inslee, the governor of Washington state, said he would make climate change the central theme of his campaign, calling it the “most urgent challenge of our time.”

The 68-year-old Inslee served in the US House of Representatives before becoming governor of the northwest state in 2013.

– John Hickenlooper –

Hickenlooper, 67, is a former governor of Colorado and mayor of Denver.

A former geologist and self-described “nerd” who became wealthy after opening a string of brew pubs, Hickenlooper is a political moderate.

He is expected to tout his role in strengthening Colorado’s economy as he seeks to build national recognition.  

– Other candidates –

Also in the race are former Maryland congressman John Delaney, 55, technology executive Andrew Yang, 44, and self-help author Marianne Williamson, 66. 

– Waiting in the wings –

Among the big Democratic guns who have yet to commit is former vice president Joe Biden, who leads most surveys of Democratic voters.

Biden, who combines experience and widespread popularity, would be expected to poll well in some of the blue-collar upper Midwestern states that propelled Trump to the presidency in 2016.

Other possible Democratic candidates are Montana Governor Steve Bullock and former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe.

New York billionaire and ex-mayor Michael Bloomberg had contemplated a run but has ruled it out, even while vowing to spend heavily to support the Democratic cause.

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