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Kamala Harris’ 2020 Presidential Election Odds Improve After She Officially Announces Candidacy

David Golokhov

by David Golokhov in Politics News

Updated Mar 26, 2020 · 1:12 PM PDT

California Attorney General Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris is among the favourites to win the 2020 Democratic Party Presidential nomination. Photo by The Office of the Attorney General of California (Wikimedia Commons) [CC License]
  • California Senator Kamala Harris is the current favorite to win the Democratic Party nominee for 2020
  • The Democratic field is crowded with seven candidates in the running already
  • According to the latest national primary polls, Harris is still in the single digits

On Monday, California Senator Kamala Harris formerly announced the launch of her campaign to run for President of the United States in 2020.

She’s going to have to navigate through what is expected to be a crowded field to become the Democratic front runner, but the oddsmakers think she’s got a shot as her odds to become president have dropped from +1000 on January 10th to +800 on January 22nd across a number of top online sportsbooks.

2020 US Presidential Election Odds

Candidate US Presidential Election 2020 Odds (01/22/19)
Donald Trump +150
Beto O’Rourke +1000
Kamala Harris +1000
Joe Biden +1400
Elizabeth Warren +1500
Bernie Sanders +1800
Mike Pence +2000
Cory Booker +2500

*Click the link for the full list of odds

Who is in the Field So Far?

The last time the we saw a race for the presidency, the Democratic side was basically a one-man race. From the beginning, everyone knew that Hillary Clinton would eventually be the nominee as she only had to navigate her way through Martin O’Malley, a softball, and Bernie Sanders, who surprised a little bit while challenging her.

However, this year’s race for the nominee is expected to be wide open. There’s Harris, Elizabeth Warren (Senator from Massachusetts), Richard Ojeda (State Senator from West Virginia), Kirsten Gillibrand (Senator from New York), Tulsi Gabbard (Senator from Hawaii), John Delaney (former U.S. representative from Maryland) and Julian Castro (former San Antonio mayor and US.secretary of Houston and urban development).

As you can see, the field is quite crowded already and things are just getting started. We could see Clinton in the mix again. We’re expecting to see Beto O’Rourke, Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders, and Amy Klobuchar get in the mix. And we could have some heavy hitters on the way too like former Vice President Joe Biden, who many think is the best shot to knock off Donald Trump in 2020.

What’s Harris Got Going for Her?

Harris has a number of things going for her that her party will like. Not only is she a woman who can possibly break the glass ceiling, but she also brings cultural diversity to the table as her parents were of Indian and Jamaican descent. The Democratic party is having a women’s movement right now and she’s at the forefront.

She’ll definitely appeal to the African American vote, she’ll likely be viewed quite positively among Hispanics and Asians too. Millennials will be warm to her, but party loyalists and the traditional “left” have to still be won over.

Harris has mostly been a prosecutor in her life and the left has already pointed out just how hard she’s been on low-level criminals.

Harris has mostly been a prosecutor in her life and the left has already pointed out just how hard she’s been on low-level criminals. The left is already very conscious of – and wants change to – the justice system and she is not someone who will bring that.

She needs to have a number of signature moments in town halls, debates and on television to establish herself. What she has is not enough.

Is Kamala Harris a Good Bet?

In short, it’s a no. She looks like a good candidate on paper but so did Marco Rubio and he really struggled in the primaries in 2016.

According to the latest national primary polls, Harris is still in the single digits. She’s just not a national household name and that’s a big problem.

If this were the entire field, then she’d have a shot – a good shot. But if Biden, Sanders, Clinton or a surprise candidate like Mark Cuban or Michael Bloomberg gets in the mix, she’ll be drowned out.

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