As we reach less than one year until the Presidential Election, many Democrat candidates are rallying to defeat and succeed Donald Trump (presumably the GOP front-runner). Assumptions that all 20 candidates were running for the Democratic nominee. However, by the end of the year, many candidates have dropped out. Now we are left with ten primary candidates and other less popular candidates.

There are three main front-runner candidates leading the debate–Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Joe Biden. They have all developed large fanbases over time as they all have been active lawmakers for the past decade. Sanders was the runner-up to the Democratic Primary in 2016, behind a controversial Hillary Clinton campaign. He would be considered the furthest left out of all the candidates as his policy has some substantial socialist aspects to combat the wealth gap in America. Warren has proposed similar policies compared to Sanders for things like healthcare and taxes. Warren could make history as the first female president in America and possibly aid a culture change for women in politics. Lastly, there is Joe Biden, Vice President of the Obama Administration. He has rapidly grown a following due to his relationship with former President Barack Obama, as many hope that he could mirror Obama’s administration. Despite being the front-runner, in the beginning, it looks like he is losing steam to more progressive candidates that are pushing more drastic change. 

These candidates have made this Democratic race compelling since they have a chance to rise in the polls and make some serious noise. Candidates like Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Entrepreneur Andrew Yang, as well as Senators Amy Klobuchar and Cory Booker, are poised to make a considerable jump whenever someone in front of them starts dipping in polls. Each of these candidates brings something unique to the table that sets them apart from the rest. Pete Buttigieg–a Rhodes’ scholar, a military veteran, and Mayor of South Bend–has pushed proactive ideas and would be the youngest president ever to be elected in American history by six years.

Another candidate who has grown a nice following is Andrew Yang–an entrepreneur, lawyer, and philanthropist. His main goal surrounding his campaign is the “Freedom Dividend.” Yang basically proposes to give 1,000 dollars to every American over 18. While we have no idea if inflation would make this policy more or less useless, this proposed plan would be huge for many Americans and improve the necessary quality of life for many living paychecks to paycheck on a minimum wage salary. He has had some controversy attached to him as many of his fans claim that there has been a media blackout or lack of media coverage on him as he gets limited speaking time during debates and limited coverage on the news. 

There are other candidates like Booker, Klobuchar, Harris are in the mix as well to gain some traction as Harris could be the most likely to jump into that top three in polling. With her ties to California, it is not hard to see her gain some serious momentum going into the later months of the election process. Furthermore, this Democratic race has been unpredictable, and there have been a few front-runners with a collection of unique ideas.