Deep Democratic bench takes shape ahead of 2020 GROUP OF White House hopefuls is likely to grow before the primary season. THE GROUP includes high-flying US senators, veterans and a young gay mayor.

Washington, Feb. 11: Senator Amy Klobuchar on Monday officially joined a crowded field of Democrats vying to challenge President Donald Trump in 2020 – already shaping up to be one of the largest and most diverse ever.

Klobuchar is now party of a group of White House hopefuls that includes other high-flying female US senators, charismatic veterans and a young gay mayor. And it is likely to grow before the US primary season gets underway a year from now.

Here are some of first entrants in the presidential race, 21 months before the election.

Amy Klobuchar: The 58year-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. Elizabeth Warren: At 69, the US Senate's consumer protection champion from Massachusetts became the first high-profile Democrat to enter the

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race when she announced a presidential exploratory committee on December

31. Warren is on the party's left flank, and built her reputation by holding Wall Street accountable for its missteps.

Kirsten Gillibrand: This New York senator made a name fighting the battle to end sexual assault, especially in military, before the #MeToo movement gained national prominence. The 52-year-old is a fierce Trump critic. Kamala Harris: The daughter of 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.

AFP Senator and Democrat Amy Klobuchar greets supporters with her husband John Bessler (L) and her daughter Abigail Bessler (R) after announcing her presidential bid at Boom Island Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota. —