BETO O’ROURKE (46)

Robert Francis O’Rourke — Beto is a common Spanish nickname for Robert — is the son of Melissa Martha Williams and Judge Pat Francis O’Rourke, whose forebears emigrated to Texas from Ireland in the 19th century to help build a railroad in the state.

The former three-term congressman actively engages on Irish issues such as protecting the Good Friday Agreement and promoting trade between Ireland and the US. His platform tends to focus on the big picture, with sweeping calls for unity, reducing inequality, and healing racial divisions — but so far is short on specifics.

That flexibility, especially on universal healthcare, may not overly endear him to progressives but it could draw support from independents and even some moderate Republicans and dent Trump’s strategy of painting Democratic contenders as “crazy Socialists”.

CHANCES: If O’Rourke were to become the Democratic contender, he could win his native Texas in a battle against Trump, giving the party a huge advantage. Young, energetic, with little baggage, he can appeal to the Democratic party’s middle ground and progressives alike. His political prowess is matched only by his fundraising skills, without which a successful bid is almost impossible. He raised $6.1m (€5.4m) in the first 24 hours after launching his presidential campaign on March 14, crushing the first-day hauls of many of his Democratic competitors. He could be the party’s strongest candidate, and is said to be the candidate Trump most fears.

KAMALA HARRIS (54)

Kamala Devi Harris of California is the daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, and was the first US senator of Jamaican or Indian ancestry. She became a senator for California in 2016. Before that she had been California’s attorney general. Since becoming a senator, Harris has supported universal healthcare, immigration reform, lowering taxes for the working and middle classes while raising taxes on corporations and the wealthiest top 1% of Americans.

CHANCES: Harris is seen as a pragmatic progressive with a tough political skin and sharp skills as a former San Francisco prosecutor. Her compelling personal story as the daughter of immigrants could also serve as a useful contrast to Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric in a match-up against him and draw crucial support from Latinos and African-Americans. In a CNN/Des Moines Register poll on March 10, almost half of Democrats surveyed said her political views are “about right” and 12% said she’s “too liberal”. Nearly 58 % had a favourable opinion of the senator. Hers will be a sharp and disciplined campaign.

BERNIE SANDERS (77)

Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the longest serving Independent senator in the US Congress, who usually votes with the Democratic party on legislation, enters the race with the strong advantage of national name recognition and a strong progressive record that won him wide appeal when he ran unsuccessfully against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination in 2016. Sanders wants universal healthcare and higher taxes for the wealthy. He would like to make public collages tuition-free, which he has proposed paying for by taxing financial transactions. He also wants to increase social security benefits for retirees by subjecting all incomes above $250,000 (€220,000) to the 6.2% payroll tax.

CHANCES: The fact that Sanders is not a member of the Democratic Party, and instead describes himself as a democratic socialist, is a boon for Trump in his bid to cast all the candidates as “too socialist” for America. He has a very high favourability rating among Iowa voters — 71% see him in a positive light, and he is the first choice for 25% of likely voters. His views are seen as too liberal (44%) or about right (48%). But, against that, voters may be wary of a replay of the 2016 Democratic primaries, and may be drawn instead to the newer generation of progressive candidates in the Sanders mould. In that case, Sanders could end up being a victim of his own success.

ELIZABETH WARREN (69)

Elizabeth Warren, like Bernie Sanders, could be described as a liberal populist — but one who is also tough and pragmatic. She was elected to the US Senate for Massachusetts in 2012, capturing the seat held by the late senator Ted Kennedy. She is a leading progressive in the party and backs healthcare for all. The former Harvard law professor has a long track record of opposing lobbyists and billionaires and has pledged to restore the US to a place where people can succeed if they “work hard and play by the rules” by holding billionaires and big corporations accountable.

Warren wants to introduce a wealth tax of 2% on net worth over $50m (€44m), and 3% over $1bn (€880m) designed to raise $2.75trn (€2.42trn) over a decade, all of which would help fund her policies.

CHANCES: She’s tough and can be a rousing speaker on the campaign trail. She has a detailed grasp of policy issues and a sharp academic mind but some question whether she can sufficiently connect with voters personally. Warren’s favourability rating in the Iowa poll took a hit among moderate Democrats. Sanders and Warren have similar favourable ratings among liberals (76% and 74% respectively), but among moderates Sanders gets 68% favourability, while Warren drops to 54% — so the battle between them could be especially fiery.

CORY BOOKER (49)

Cory Booker has represented New Jersey in the US senate since 2013. He emerged into the national spotlight as a crusading reformer taking on the established black power structure in Newark, New Jersey, in the early 2000s. The African-American senator launched his presidential campaign with an appeal to America’s common purpose and a focus on social and racial equality. Booker is considered a social liberal who supports women’s rights and same-sex marriage. He is a Rhodes Scholar and Yale Law graduate who was adept at promoting himself through the his early use of social media and focusing on an optimistic vision of America.

CHANCES: He connects well with voters, who like his charismatic speaking style. He will appeal to voters looking for an optimistic message, but may be seen as too liberal to appeal to rural voters who want to focus more on jobs and economic wellbeing. Booker was once one of the top recipients of campaign donations from Wall Street, but has since rejected donations from political action committees. He is likely to run a dynamic campaign, though it could be more about style than substance.

KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (52)

Kirsten Gillibrand, a former corporate lawyer, was elected a senator for New York in 2009, succeeding Hillary Clinton who had vacated the seat in her first presidential bid. Gillibrand has Irish links on her mother’s side, so perhaps it was no accident that she declared her presidential run on St Patrick’s Day.

“I am going to run for president of the United States because as a young mom, I am going to fight for kids as hard as I would fight for my own,” she declared. “It is why I believe healthcare should be a right not a privilege. It is why I believe we should have better public schools for our kids, and I believe that anybody who wants to work hard enough should be able to get whatever job training they need to earn their way to the middle class.” She became known as the #MeToo senator after leading the push for fellow Democratic senator Al Franken to resign after sexual misconduct allegations.

CHANCES: Gillibrand was among the least liberal members of her party when she was in the House of Representatives, but in the Senate she leaned more to the left and was voted the seventh most liberal member of the 46-person Democratic group in the last Congress. She is likely to appeal to the more establishment wing of the party. Progressive voters are wary of her defence of the tobacco industry and her perceived anti-immigrant platform a decade ago. She will have her work cut out to bridge the gap during her campaign.

AMY KLOBUCHAR (58)

Amy Klobuchar, another former corporate lawyer, was the first woman elected to the US senate in Minnesota in 2007. She has established a reputation as a matter-of-fact centrist, tackling issues like healthcare and soaring drug pricing. She wants to introduce new measures to make it easier for small and mid-sized US businesses to export goods worldwide. As she announced her entry into the Democratic race on a snow-covered stage in Minneapolis along the banks of the Mississippi, on February 10, she declared that on her first day in the White House the US would rejoin the Paris climate agreement.

CHANCES: Because she is seen as not too far to the left nor too far to the right, she will have strong appeal to crucial Midwestern voters, whom Democrats desperately need to win back in the 2020 race. In the 2016 race, Hillary Clinton only won the previously strong Democratic state by 44,000 votes. Klobuchar has tempered voters’ expectations about proposals such as healthcare for all and tuition-free public colleges, saying: “If I was a magic genie, and could give that for everyone, and we could afford it, I would.”

TULSI GABBARD (37)

Tulsi Gabbard has represented Hawaii in the House of Representatives since 2013 and is the first Hindu member of congress. Before being elected to Congress, Gabbard served in a field medical unit of the Hawaii Army National Guard in a combat zone in Iraq from 2004 to 2005 and was deployed to Kuwait from 2008 to 2009. She was critical of US intervention in Iraq, Libya, and Syria and has also denounced US involvement in the Yemeni civil war. When she declared her entry into the race in February she said she saw the 2020 election as a “fight for the soul of America.” She wants to cut taxes on small businesses and farmers, raise them on corporations, and lower military spending.

CHANCES: Gabbard initially excited the left because she was an outspoken economic progressive and an army veteran who objected to American intervention abroad. But in the following years, she staked out foreign policy positions that dismayed her supporters. She joined Republicans in demanding that Barack Obama use the term “radical Islam”. She was the member of Congress most willing to advocate for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, saying it was part of an effort to try to find a peaceful solution. She may win the votes of some progressive Democrats who want to reduce military spending but she may be seen as too controversial to win broad appeal.

JULIÁN CASTRO (44)

Julián Castro has never served in the US Congress. He was mayor of his native San Antonio, Texas from 2009 until he joined president Barack Obama’s cabinet as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2014 to 2017. He supports healthcare for all and a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants as part of comprehensive immigration reform. But he hasn’t released many details of his platform, although he’s been a strong advocate of free trade.

CHANCES: In early polls, Castro finishes near the bottom of the pack, though he will likely do well with Latino voters. But he has yet to establish a strong donor network or social media following that would help give him more name recognition on the national stage to boost his chances.

JOHN HICKENLOOPER (67)

John Hickenlooper, who reinvented himself by starting a brewery after being laid off, has been governor of Colorado since 2011. He is another long-shot candidate. He has been a strong advocate for ending homelessness in America and has set up a number of programmes in his state to help provide housing. He also favours strong gun-control measures. In the wake of the 2012 Aurora theatre shooting that left 12 dead and dozens injured, Hickenlooper’s state government passed background checks for those purchasing guns.

CHANCES: Colorado is currently the number-one economy in the US, and Hickenlooper markets himself as a centrist who can bring opposing interests to the table. He touts himself as the right person to take on Donald Trump — but not enough Democratic voters are likely to agree.

JOHN DELANEY (55)

I had a great discussion about where the Democratic party is headed and my campaign strategy with @mitchellreports yesterday. Check out the full interview here: https://t.co/WukL3uSukZ

— John Delaney 🇺🇸 (@JohnDelaney) March 19, 2019

John Delaney, a former congressman from Maryland, has been running for the Democratic nomination since July 2107, but few Democrats know much about him. His central message is one of national unity and he believes he can work with Republicans to get things done. He is a wealthy entrepreneur, worth about $100m (€88m), having launched two companies that trade on the New York Stock Exchange. Hardly surprising then that likes to declare his belief in capitalism.

The primary is going to be a choice between socialism and a more just form of capitalism,” he told Rolling Stone this month. “I believe in capitalism, the free markets and the private economy.” Just as well, since he’s essentially funding his race himself.

Delaney opposed President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, tweeting “THIS is why Putin helped Trump campaign — he knew Trump is untrustworthy & would back out of our global engagements (TPP, Paris, Iran) & diminish our leadership in the world. Pulling back from our global leadership position is bad for our economy & nat sec [national security].”

CHANCES: In 2017, Fortune magazine named him in its list of the world’s 50 greatest leaders. Centrist Democrats like his pitch to improve workers’ rights, education, and infrastructure but he’s likely to have insufficient broader appeal.

JAY INSLEE (68)

Hey, @Trevornoah, how do I get one of these signs for my office? pic.twitter.com/xKMGGAbQyi

— Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) March 19, 2019

Jay Inslee is the governor of Washington state, and a former multiple-term US congressman. He was an outspoken critic of president George W Bush’s invasion of Iraq in 2003. His major issue is protecting the environment and combating climate change: “We have exactly one chance left to defeat climate change — and that’s during the next administration.”

He says stopping climate change can boost economic growth, and create millions of new jobs as the US transitions to “100% clean energy and net-zero greenhouse gas pollution.” He proposes removing subsidies and tax breaks for the fossil fuel industry.

CHANCES: His long history of battling climate change will work in his favour with progressive voters who support the Green New Deal, a set of proposed economic stimulus programmes to address climate change and economic inequality.

ANDREW YANG (44)

This may be most innovative presidential campaign idea ever: Democratic candidate @AndrewYang may create a 3D lifelike hologram of himself to appear at campaign events here in Iowa, elsewhere, allow people to see him speak (while not actually here). Could be 100 places at once pic.twitter.com/DyOfmKJ1CI

— Douglas W. Burns (@douglaswburns) March 21, 2019

Andrew Yang, the son of Taiwanese immigrants, entered the presidential race in November 2018, and that was essentially his first foray into the political world. He is a businessman who founded Venture for America, which seeks to revitalise struggling urban centres by training and fostering entrepreneurs in cities such as Detroit and New Orleans. He is really running on just one issue — he wants everyone to have a universal basic income to counteract the worst effects of automation in the workforce.

CHANCES: High marks for ideas but he’ll probably end up keeping the day job.