Bernie Sanders ignited a base within the Democratic Party in 2016, and now he will officially look to carry that momentum toward winning the presidency in 2020.
On Tuesday, Feb. 19, the independent senator from Vermont announced that he is running for President of the United States and will seek the 2020 Democratic nomination after several months of speculation from the public.
“I’m running for president. I am asking you to join me today as part of an unprecedented and historic grassroots campaign that will begin with at least 1 million people from across the country,” Sanders wrote in a tweet.
Sanders is currently listed at +1000 in the recently updated odds at Bovada and is one of the top betting favorites to win the 2020 presidential election. Only Donald Trump (+200), Kamala Harris (+500), Beto O’Rourke (+800), and Joe Biden (+800) have more favorable odds of taking the White House at this time.
He enters an ever-growing field of Democratic candidates seeking the 2020 presidential bid. Of the favorites, only O’Rourke and Biden have yet to officially declared on whether they will seek the party’s nomination.
The announcement from the 77-year old candidate first came in an interview on Vermont Public Radio and then through an email to supporters and via social media.
Sanders said his decision to run in 2020 was originally based on whether he was the best candidate to defeat President Trump in the general election next year, describing him as “a pathological liar, a fraud, a racist, a sexist, a xenophobe and someone who is undermining American democracy as he leads us in an authoritarian direction.”
However, over time and leading up to the announcement, Sanders said the focus for his campaign became much more important than any one person, including himself.
“Our campaign is not only about defeating Donald Trump, the most dangerous president in modern American history. It is not only about winning the Democratic nomination and the general election,” Sanders said. “Our campaign is about transforming our country and creating a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice.”
Sanders also had a message the rich and those who have controlled politicians in the past through lobbying and political action committees.
“They may have the money and the power. We have the people.”
