Time For A List - Updated

The 2018 mid-term election is two months from yesterday, which means that the 2020 presidential campaign starts two months from today. Oh, I know, the unofficial/hidden 2020 campaign started 17 seconds after you-know-who was declared the winner in 2016, but once the mid-terms are over the real campaigning will start. After all, November 3, 2020 is just 788 days away.

First, a look back. There were 17 declared Republican candidates in 2016, and seven other Republicans who pondered running then formally said no. Do you remember them all? Never fear, here are the lists, and note that the "I'm running" announcement dates were all in 2015; the "I'm not running" dates were in 2014 (Portman) and 2015 (everyone else.) 

Declared GOP Candidates, in order of their official announcement:

1. Ted Cruz (March 23) 
2. Rand Paul (April 7)
3. Marco Rubio (April 14)
4. Dr. Ben Carson (May 3) 
5. Carly Fiorina (May 4) 
6. Mike Huckabee (May 5) 
7. Rick Santorum (May 27)
8. George Pataki (May 28)
9. Lindsey Graham (June 1) 
10. Rick Perry (June 4) 
11. Jeb Bush (June 15)
12. Donald Trump (June 16) 
13. Bobby Jindal (June 24) 
14. Chris Christie (June 30)
15. Scott Walker (July 13) 
16. John Kasich (July 21) 
17. Jim Gilmore (July 30) 

Officially Not Running
Rob Portman (Dec 2)
Paul Ryan (Jan 12)
Mitt Romney (Jan 30)
Rick Snyder (May 7)
John Bolton (May 14) 

Mike Pence (May 20) 

Bob Ehrlich (August 4)

This time around we'll have a Republican incumbent, probably named Trump but possibly, just possibly, named Pence. It's unlikely but also possible, just possible, that a Republican would run against the incumbent in the primaries. Who might "primary" the president? The one name I've heard so far is Ohio governor John Kasich. If he, or any other Republican, declares himself (or herself) to be a candidate, I'll start a Republican list, but this time around the real suspense is on the Democratic side. 

So who is running? These are the names I've seen mentioned, somewhere, anywhere, as potential Democratic candidates, listed in alphabetical order:

1. Joe Biden (Former VP)
2. Michael Bloomberg (Former mayor of New York City)
3. Peter Buttigieg (Mayor of South Bend, Indiana) added Sept. 8
4. Cory Booker (New Jersey senator)
5. Sherrod Brown (Ohio senator)
6. Jerry Brown (Governor of California)
7. Steve Bullock (Governor of Montana)
8. Julian Castro (Former secretary of Housing and Urban Development) 
9. Mark Cuban (Businessman, owner of the Dallas Mavericks)
10. Bill de Blasio (Mayor of New York City)
11. Tulsi Gabbard (Congresswoman from Hawaii) added Sept. 8
12. Eric Garcetti (Mayor of Los Angeles) 
13. Kirsten Gillibrand (New York senator)
14. Luis Gutierrez (Congressman from Illinois)
15. Kamala Harris (California senator)
16. John Hickenlooper (Governor of Colorado) 
17. Eric Holder (Former Attorney General)
18. Robert Iger (Businessman, Chairman/CEO of Disney)
19. Jay Inslee (Governor of Washington)
20. Tim Kaine (Virginia senator, 2016 VP nominee)
21. Jason Kander (Former Secretary of State of Missouri)
22. Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota senator)
23. Mitch Landrieu (Mayor of New Orleans)
24. Terry McAuliffe (Former governor of Virginia)
25. Jeff Merkley (Oregon senator)
26. Seth Moulton (Congressman from Massachusetts) 
27. Chris Murphy (Connecticut senator)
28. Martin O'Malley (Former governor of Maryland, ran in 2016 primaries)
29. Deval Patrick (Former governor of Massachusetts)
30. Tim Ryan (Congressman from Ohio) added Sept. 8
31. Bernie Sanders (Vermont senator, registered Independent, ran in 2016 primaries)
32. Howard Schultz (Businessman, former CEO of Starbucks)
33. Tom Steyer (Businessman) added Sept. 8
34. Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts senator)
35. Mark Zuckerberg (Businessman, founder of Facebook)

It turns out there is one Democratic politician who has already declared himself a candidate, way back in July, 2017. His name is John Delaney and he's a Congressman from Maryland. So far he's pretty obscure, but since he's official, he gets to be the first one on my Declared Candidates list.  

Declared Democratic Candidates, in order of their announcement 

John Delaney (July 28, 2017)
Andrew Yang (November 6, 2017) added Sept. 8

Oprah Winfrey and Andrew Cuomo (Governor of New York) have also been mentioned as possible candidates but they've both said they're not running. That means they get to be the first two names on the "I'm Not Running" list. 

I'm Not Running

Oprah Winfrey 

Andrew Cuomo 
Sheryl Sandberg added Sept. 8

As the potential candidates declare themselves to be officially in or officially out of the 2020 race, or if Oprah and/or Andrew change their minds and go for it, I'll update my lists.  

Days until election day: 788

Saturday afternoon update: I just saw a June 18, 2018 article at the Washington Post containing a few more names. I've added Peter Buttigieg, Tim Ryan, Tulsi Gabbard and Tom Steyer to the Potential Candidates list, businessman Andrew Yang, who I've never heard of before, to the Declared Candidates list, and Sheryl Sandberg to the I'm Not Running list. 

Days until the mid-term election: 59
Days until the presidential election: 787