Among the eight politicians who have confirmed their bid to run for the 2020 United States presidential election so far are three Asia American Pacific Islanders.
Meet the presidential hopefuls:
Kamala Harris
Senator Kamala Harris, a California Democrat, is the most recent Asian American to announce her presidential bid in the 2020 election. She was born in Oakland, California on October 20, 1964, to a Tamil Indian mother and a Jamaican father, who both immigrated to the U.S.
The news of her running next year was announced on Monday via her Twitter page.
The 54-year-old politician has opposed President Donald Trump and his plans to build a border wall as well as the separation of immigrant children from their parents. She was also put in the public spotlight for grilling Brett Kavanaugh when he was nominated as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, according to AsAm News.
Harris has also supported the legalization of recreational marijuana, sanctuary cities, and the DREAM Act.
“The future of our country depends on you and millions of others lifting our voices to fight for our American values,” Harris said. “That’s why I’m running for president of the United States. I’m running to lift those voices, to bring our voices together.”
Tulsi Gabbard
Born in Leloaloa, American Samoa, Tulsi Gabbard first announced her bid earlier this year. She is an Iraqi War veteran and was the first Hindu and Samoan-American elected to Congress.
“I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week,” Gabbard, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Hawaii’s second district, told CNN via Independent. “There are a lot of reasons for me to make this decision. There are a lot of challenges that are facing the American people that I’m concerned about and that I want to help solve.”
“There is one main issue that is central to the rest, and that is the issue of war and peace,” the 37-year-old politician said, adding, “I look forward to being able to get into this and to talk about it in depth when we make our announcement.”
Andrew Yang
Born in New York state to immigrants parents from Taiwan, Andrew Yang, an entrepreneur and founder of Venture for America, first announced his presidential bid early last year.
One of the policies that Yang will forward is the Universal Basic Income or “the Freedom Dividend.” The policy aims to give people between 18 and 64 years old $1,000 a month with no strings attached.
Yang will run for president as a Democrat.
