Eight 2020 Democratic presidential candidates will participate in the “She the People” presidential forum in Houston on Wednesday afternoon.
The event is billed as “the first-ever Presidential candidate forum focused on women of color,” and will be streamed to a national audience by NBC, Telemundo, and MSNBC.
The forum is being held at Texas Southern University, a historically black university (HBCU) in downtown Houston.
That location gives presidential hopefuls a platform to speak to a likely key demographic in the upcoming election: young voters of color.{mosads}
Turnout for 18- to 29-year-old voters surged 79 percent between the 2014 and 2018 midterms, and early surveys indicate more young people are planning to vote in 2020 than did in 2016.
In particular, Generation Z appears likely to be crucial, given voters who will be 18 to 23 during the 2020 contests will account for 10 percent of the electorate, according to Pew Research Center. Forty-five percent of that group identifies as non-white, according to Pew.
Here’s the state of the candidates in the race as they head into the event:
Sanders
After being being beaten by Hillary Clinton by more than 50 percentage points among African American voters in the 2016 Democratic primary, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is facing questions this cycle about whether his policies do enough to address racial disparities.
Sanders recently became the only 2020 Democrat to endorse giving incarcerated felons voting rights, an issue that his campaign points out disproportionately affects black communities due to the high incarceration rates among black men.
Warren
A candidate that tends to shine in policy forums, She the People will give Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) a chance to highlight her progressive policy proposals and present them in a way more geared toward the youth vote.
Her recent proposal to cancel nearly all student loan debt, create universal free public college and substantially increase investment in HBCU’s will likely play well among the college-age audience.
Harris
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) likely hopes to solidify her status as a front-runner among nonwhite voters at the forum. Some recent polling shows her trailing other candidates among black voters.
She may have to play defense on her career as a tough-on-crime prosecutor, which some progressives have criticized as a contradiction to her progressive bona fides.
Booker
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) may similarly try to bolster his position among African American voters.
He has advocated strongly to set up a commission to explore reparations, and introduced legislation to do so, a likely topic during the forum.
O’Rourke
Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) has not made a significant national media appearance since being on Oprah Winfrey’s couch before launching his candidacy.
O’Rourke has a home-turf advantage in Texas and will hope to show off some popularity in a state that would be huge for Democrats to win in the general election.
Castro, who also served as the mayor of San Antonio, may be able to use this forum as a platform to highlight his immigration platform to a diverse audience.
Klobuchar
To secure the Democratic nomination, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) will have to prove she can expand her appeal beyond voters in the Midwest, and this forum gives her an opportunity to do so.
The Minnesota lawmaker is coming off a CNN town hall Monday where she faced derision for telling the audience to cheer, a moment which has been compared to 2016 Republican candidate Jeb Bush asking supporters to clap. Wednesday’s appearance may help her recover from that viral moment.
Gabbard
With her polling in the single digits, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s (D-Hawaii) participation in the high-profile event gives her one of her first chances to stand out on a national stage.
She has followed a nontraditional campaign trail since launching her candidacy in February, and has had low name recognition in many early voting states.
Gabbard may be able to clarify her stances on some issues which have dogged her, including meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad in 2017.