The Democratic presidential field got even more crowded today when Montana Gov. Steve Bullock became the 23rd candidate to enter the race for the right to take on President Trump in 2020.
Bullock was one of the few Democrats to win statewide in 2016 when he was elected to a second term as governor in a state Trump carried by 20 points – a feat he pointed out in his announcement video.
“As the Democratic governor of a state Trump won by 20 points, I don’t have the luxury of just talking to people who agree with me,” he said in a video released on Twitter.
To give everyone a fair shot, we must do more than defeat Donald Trump. We have to defeat the corrupt system that keeps people like him in power, and we need a fighter who’s done it before.
That’s why I’m running for President. Join our team: https://t.co/TZXr9AcDr7 pic.twitter.com/XZ0LPUbtBx
— Steve Bullock (@GovernorBullock) May 14, 2019
His first task will be meeting the thresh hold to enter the June Democratic presidential primary debate – which could prove difficult given his late entry into the contest.
Bullock must either hit 1 per cent in three polls from a pre-approved list or have donations from 65,000.
Bullock centered his campaign announcement on his push to end the influence of money in politics.
‘Today we see evidence of a corrupt system all across America. A government that serves campaign money, not the people,’ he said in his announcement video.
He has spent years fighting for more regulation of money in politics.
As attorney general of Montana, he unsuccessfully challenged the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling.
As governor, he signed into law a requirement that dark money groups operating in the state to disclose their donors.
In the landmark 2010 case, the Supreme Court ruled that the first amendment prohibits the government from restricting independent expenditures for communications by corporations (including nonprofit corporations), labor unions, and other associations.
In his two minute announcement, Bullock recounted his fight to end the influence of money in politics in Montana, including recounting his battle against the wealthy Koch brothers – Charles and David – who have spent close to a billion dollars to help elect Republicans.
‘And if we can kick the Koch brothers out of Montana, we sure as hell could kick them out of every place in the country,’ Bullock is shown saying in the video.
He also sued the Trump administration in July to block it from eliminating a mandate that politically active nonprofits disclose the identities of their major donors to the government.
The 53-year-old governor has long been expected to enter the race, given his travels to Iowa and hiring a state in the important early voting state.
His focus will be on the early caucus state, whose voters resemble the electorate of Montana. Both are rural states with a heavy population of farmers – a group that supported Trump in 2016.
He will spend three days in Iowa later this week.
Bullock will likely make electability one of his main arguments to Democrats.
‘We need to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 and defeat the corrupt system that lets dark money drown out the people’s voice,’ he said in his announcement.
And he told the Associated Press: ‘We need somebody who can win back some of these places we lost in ’16.’
Bullock argues he has won over GOP-leaning votes in Montana despite his support of liberal policies: he’s expanded Medicaid insurance coverage in Montana; he’s pro-choice; he’s embraced marriage equality; and he’s vetoed gun bills backed by the National Rifle Association.
His time in office has not been scandal free.
In February, he apologized for being ‘wrong and naïve’ in dealing with sexual harassment allegations against his former top aide Kevin O’Brien.
Bullock was head of the Democratic Governors Association when O’Brien was fired from a job there because of the allegations. O’Brien also managed his 2012 gubernatorial race and had served as one of his top aides.
He and his wife, Lisa, have three children, ages 16, 14 and 12.
Bullock graduated from Claremont McKenna College in California and Columbia Law School in New York.
Bullock joins a crowded Democratic primary field that includes former Vice President Joe Biden, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Cory Booker, Rep. Eric Swalwell, Sec. Julian Castro, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Gov. Jay Inslee, and Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Rep. Tim Ryan.