Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - March 4, 2019

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March 4, 2019

Eric Holder will not run in 2020   March 4, 2019: Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper became the 14th notable Democratic candidate to enter the presidential race. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder (D) announced that he would not run for president in 2020. Share the latest from the campaign trail.           There are 22 more candidates running since last week, including 2 more Democrats and 4 more Republicans. There is one less Green candidate running. Two more notable candidates have entered the race: Jay Inslee and John Hickenlooper. Notable Quote of the Day “[Joe] Biden has the luxury of time. The only ones worrying about Biden are campaign consultants, campaign staff, insiders and reporters. Real voters aren’t out there screaming that he’s not making a decision in February or March. And I applaud him for it.” – John Anzalone, Democratic pollster Democrats Cory Booker spoke at an event commemorating the “Bloody Sunday” civil rights march in Selma, Alabama, on Sunday. He said it was a moral failing that clean water and affordable healthcare were not available to all communities. Pete Buttigieg said his first legislative initiative would be what he called “democratic reform.” He pointed to reversing Citizens United, abolishing the Electoral College, and creating a "more depoliticized Supreme Court.” Julián Castro spoke at the California Latino Legislative Caucus Conference in Anaheim, California, Friday. His policy focus on education was also profiled by NBC News. John Delaney was interviewed on the POTUS Press Pool radio show Friday. Tulsi Gabbard criticized the Trump administration’s recent national security actions, tweeting Sunday, “Trump’s rejection of agreements such as the INF arms control treaty between the US and Russia will worsen the new Cold War and bring the world closer to nuclear war.” Kirsten Gillibrand was interviewed on CBS This Morning on Monday. Kamala Harris campaigned in Nevada for the first time Friday, speaking at a town hall and the Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit in Las Vegas. John Hickenlooper, the former governor of Colorado, announced that he was running for president Monday morning. He posted a video sharing his journey from geologist to business owner to governor. He will kick off his campaign in Denver on Thursday. When announcing his candidacy, Jay Inslee called the Green New Deal aspirational. He said, “I will be rolling out my own proposed policy. It will be comprehensive. It will be robust. It will have a sector-by-sector approach which will be targeted to reduction of carbon pollution and job creation in each sector." Bernie Sanders kicked off his presidential campaign with his first rally in Brooklyn, New York, on Saturday. Sanders discussed his personal background in the speech, leading Phil Johnston, former Massachusetts Democratic Party chairman, to comment, “He made the mistake in 2016 of not talking about his life’s story, his experience and struggles growing up, in contrast to Trump — he’s correcting that mistake this time.” While campaigning in Iowa, Elizabeth Warren published an article on Medium describing what made her first run for office. Marianne Williamson campaigned in Iowa over the weekend. Republicans Donald Trump spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday, where he spent two hours discussing the 2020 presidential election, North Korea, the Mueller investigation, and socialism. Watch his speech here. On the Cusp: Tracking Potential Candidates Justin Amash said he had not ruled out running as a Libertarian candidate. “I never rule out anything. That’s not on my radar right now, but I think that it is important that we have someone in there that is presenting a vision for America that is different from what these two parties are presenting,” he said. Sherrod Brown traveled to South Carolina as part of his  “Dignity of Work” tour, where he promoted increasing the minimum wage. Steve Bullock is making another trip to Iowa, where he reportedly has a staffer—Megan Simpson, the organizing director for Bullock’s political action committee Big Sky Values—on the ground. Eric Holder wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post Monday announcing that he would not run for president in 2020. He will instead focus on his work with the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. Howard Schultz is scheduled to speak in four cities across Texas this week. What We’re Reading National Review: Don't Root for a Trump Primary Challenge NPR: 2020 Democrats Head To Wisconsin Early, Looking To Reverse 2016 Stumble Politico: Warren's top surrogate is big on social media and has 4 legs Flashback: March 4, 2015 Hillary Clinton’s email account while secretary of state continued to be the subject of news stories following a report from The New York Times on March 2 that she had used a private email account to send both personal messages and communications related to official State Department business.