There is no longer an ‘offseason’ in politics. As we’ve seen with the NFL, the NBA, and MLB, there aren’t days or weeks off anymore, and instead we are just racing from one moment to the next.
Even though the midterms have just ended, there is already speculation on which candidate the Democratic Party will run against Donald Trump in 2020. We have seen many of the same names from 2016 emerge as potential nominees, but recently two newer names have emerged in Beto O’Rourke and Kamala Harris. Online sportsbook BetDSI has installed O’Rourke and Harris as the two favorites to win the Democratic nomination, with O’Rourke slightly favored over Harris.
2020 Democratic Nominee Odds
Beto O’Rourke +500
Kamala Harris +550
Elizabeth Warren +800
Joe Biden +1000
Bernie Sanders +1000
Amy Klobuchar +1400
Kirsten Gillibrand +1600
Cory Booker +2000
Michael Bloomberg +2500
Sherrod Brown +3000
Deval Patrick +3000
Michael Avenatti +3500
John Delaney +10000
Hillary Clinton +5000
Terry McAuliffe +6000
Field (Any other person) +1000
Beto O’Rourke first captivated the imagination of Texans and then the country by giving Ted Cruz a run for his money in reliably-red Texas. The Lone Star State had not elected a Democrat to serve as a United States Senator since Lloyd Bentsen won his fourth term in 1988, but O’Rourke nearly pulled it off. He won over 48 percent of the vote, and he garnered more than four million votes, nearly a million more than Cruz’s last Democratic challenger for the Senate seat.
Making Texas so competitive has led many to believe that O’Rourke can appeal to moderates in red states. His youth and energy resonated with many during his campaign, and he has already been invited to go to Iowa, the first state that holds a presidential primary, by Democrats in Des Moines.
Beto proved that he can be a fundraising juggernaut too. He raised more than $38 million from July to September, smashing the record for the largest fundraising quarter ever for a Senate candidate.
Prior to Beto’s emergence, Harris was seen as the frontrunner to win the Democratic Party nomination in 2020. Harris was elected to the United States Senate in 2016, and she has made a name for herself on Capitol Hill. She was a prominent figure for the Democrats during the confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh, and she has carved out a position for herself as someone who will call out the GOP and Donald Trump.
CNN believes that Harris is still the best bet to be the Democrats’ nominee in 2020, as she would appeal to a broad spectrum of voters. She will be a relatively young 56 in 2020, and she represents the strength of the party’s diversity as a women of Jamaican and Indian descent. Harris will also have some experience as she was formerly California’s Attorney General, and she will have been in office for three years by the time primaries kick off.
Harris has left little secret of her intentions to run for President. She went to Iowa to drum up support for Democrats last month, and she aligned herself with Andrew Gillum and Stacey Abrams during their races. Harris has shown that she can be a big fundraiser too, and she has tied herself to the Democratic Party reminiscent of Hillary Clinton.
A recent POLITICO poll showed that many Democrats want Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders to run, so they are among the favorites. However, the likelihood of either Biden or Sanders winning is minute because age is too big of a factor. Biden would be 77 and Sanders would be 79 by Election Day 2020, and the last few elections have shown the Democrats are at their best in elections where they have younger, diverse candidates. Neither Biden or Sanders fits the mold.
If you’re looking for a longshot to bet at these odds, take a look at Sherrod Brown. Brown was recently re-elected to his Senate seat by a comfortable margin, and he provides the Democrats with a blueprint to victory in the Rust Belt. Republicans won every other major statewide race in Ohio, but Brown has broad, cross-cutting appeal that makes him a viable candidate. He has the potential to win the moderate vote and energize the more left-wing sector of the Democratic Party, and that makes him appealing at 30-1.
