Tom Steyer, the billionaire hedge fund manager turned liberal activist, announced Tuesday he is entering the crowded race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
Steyer, who has been focused on impeaching President Donald Trump, announced his candidacy in a video message. He said he was running because Americans “think the system has left them.”
Corporations, he added, have bought the U.S.’s democracy and “politicians don’t care and don’t respect” citizens.
He said the aim of his campaign would be “to make democracy work by pushing power down to the people.”
Steyer poured $120 million into the 2018 midterms through two of his organizations, one aimed at turning out young voters and fighting climate change and the other pushing Trump’s impeachment. both helped him raise a national profile.
A voiceover to the announcement video says Steyer and his wife are “worth an estimated billion and a half dollars.”
McConnell Challenged by Fighter Pilot in 2020
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell faces his highest-profile challenge yet, with former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath announcing she’ll seek to unseat the Kentucky Republican next year in what is sure to be an expensive campaign.
McGrath, who raised millions in an unsuccessful effort to win a House seat last year, said McConnell “bit by bit, year by year, turned Washington into something we all despise.”
“I’m running for Senate because it shouldn’t be like this,” she said in an announcement video.
McGrath was the Democratic nominee against Republican Representative Andy Barr in 2018, losing 51% to 48% in a district President Donald Trump won 55% to 39% in 2016. McConnell was re-elected with 56% of votes in 2014 against Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, who got 41%.