Four AAPI women mentioned as potential presidential candidates

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Sen. Kamala Harris

Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Gov. Nikki Haley

ASAM NEWS

DONALD TRUMP asn’t even taken the reigns of power yet and already the handicapping is underway on who will vie to replace him in 2020.

With America coming so close to electing its first women president and with nearly 3 million more voters backing Clinton rather than Trump, some are looking ahead to the next opportunity.

The New Yorker came up with a list of 13 women including four Asian American Pacific Islanders. The Washington Post listed 11 possible candidates, giving shout outs to three AAPI women.

No. 3 on the Washington Post’s list and No. 4 in the New Yorker is first year Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA). Harris is the first Indian/American ever to win a seat in the U.S. Senate and just the second African/American woman. As California’s Attorney General, she was a pain in the butt to corporations suspected of wrong-doing and wrestled a major settlement from banks following the foreclosure crisis.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) is No. 3 on the New Yorker’s list and ranked fifth by the Washington Post. She risked political suicide in her own party when she resigned as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee to take a lead in Bernie Sanders campaign for President. That certainly will endear her to the young in the party whose enthusiasm for Clinton can be described as lukewarm at best. She is the first American Samoan and first Hindu to be elected to Congress.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren finished first and second on the New Yorker list. Sen. Warren and New York Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand were 1 and 2 for the Washington Post.
Purple heart veteran Rep Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) merited a mention from both lists, No.  9 by the Washington Post and tenth by the New Yorker. Duckworth, whose mother is Thai Chinese, lost both legs fighting in the Iraq War.

Gov Nikki Halley (R-SC) is slated to serve as Trump’s UN ambassador and is the only Republican to make the list (No. 13, New Yorker). She opposed Trump in the primary, first supporting Marco Rubio and then Ted Cruz after Rubio dropped out. She earned Trump’s support when she ultimately supported him when it became clear he would be the presidential nominee. The New Yorker suspects the Indian/American could potentially challenge Trump in the next primary. Look for her to resign as ambassador halfway into Trump’s term if she decides to run for president.

###