Booker, Gabbard join Democratic races for presidential nomination
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US Representative Tulsi Gabbard, an Iraq War veteran who at times has had a spiky relationship with the Democratic Party, on Saturday was expected to add another liberal voice to a burgeoning field of candidates seeking the party’s 2020 presidential nomination.
It comes a day after US Senator Cory Booker, who gained national prominence in the fight over Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, announced on Friday that he would seek the Democratic Party’s nomination.
Gabbard, 37, was slated to officially launch her candidacy in Hawaii, where she has served as a congresswoman since 2013. A Samoan-American, she was the first Hindu elected to Congress.
She made headlines in 2016 by quitting a leadership post at the Democratic National Committee over the party’s decision to limit the number of debates between presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, a move analysts said helped Clinton.
Gabbard then endorsed Sanders for president, becoming one of the few members of Congress to do so. She remains popular with some progressives but will have serious competition on that front with candidates such as Senators Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren in the presidential field.
Gabbard has not been a factor in early 2020 opinion polls, and her nascent campaign already has shown signs of trouble.
Politico reported this week that her campaign manager was set to depart in the coming days after weeks of disarray.
Gabbard’s campaign on Friday confirmed the departure but said Rania Batrice would remain an adviser to Gabbard.
Gabbard also was forced to apologize for her past opposition to same-sex marriage, which she now supports, and has been engaged in a public feud with Hawaii’s popular Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono over a federal judicial nominee.
Democratic nominating contests begin in February 2020. The candidate who amasses the majority of delegates will be nominated at the party’s convention in the summer and will likely face Republican President Donald Trump in November’s general election.
Gabbard served in Iraq and Kuwait in a Hawaii National Guard field medical unit, experiences she said helped inform her noninterventionist foreign policy views. She has made veterans issues a priority
while in Congress.
Gabbard has consistently opposed US intervention in Syria, going as far as to secretly meet with Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, in January 2017, sparking fierce criticism from some in her own party. She opposes removing Assad from power.
Booker’s announcement came as little surprise. The second-term senator from New Jersey has appeared at political events in Iowa and New Hampshire as speculation mounted that he would parlay the Kavanaugh fracas into a presidential run.
“I believe that we can build a country where no one is forgotten, no one is left behind,” he said in a video on his website.
He added that he would focus on creating good jobs and reforming the criminal justice system.
He announced his bid on the first day of Black History Month, mentioning on his website the impact of racial discrimination on his family and a video posted on it emphasized racial justice issues.
Booker is the second black American to decide to run, after U.S. Senator Kamala Harris of California.
A former mayor of Newark, New Jersey, Booker has styled himself a progressive who favors a Medicare-forall healthcare plan and has a liberal voting record in the Senate.