Democratic Maryland Rep. John Delaney became the first person to announce his candidacy for the 2020 presidential race in an op-ed Friday in The Washington Post.
The announcement from the little-known congressman came just six months into the Trump presidency.
“It is time for us to rise above our broken politics and renew the spirit that enabled us to achieve the seemingly impossible. This is why I am running for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States,” Delaney wrote in the Post.
Delaney is a former businessman who was elected to office in 2013.
“Before age 40, I founded and led as chief executive two publicly traded companies that created thousands of jobs and were admired in the community,” the congressman wrote. “As a progressive businessman, I’ve made it a priority to be solutions-oriented and have been consistently recognized as one of the most innovative and bipartisan members of Congress.”
Delaney wrote in the piece that he won’t be running for re-election to office in 2018, and he very vaguely laid out his platform with a long series of buzzwords.
“We need new ideas on the future of jobs and work, one where we build a stronger and more vibrant middle class. We need to encourage a more just and inclusive form of capitalism and reduce barriers to small-business formation, start-ups, job creation, investment and growth. We need to strengthen our safety-net programs and create a new social contract,” he wrote. “We need to reform the systems of education, health care and immigration, and encourage more volunteerism, impact investing and public service. And we need to take affirmative steps to reduce our security, fiscal and climate risks. This is what my campaign will be about.”
Republican political action committee America Rising responded to the announcement with a statement that said, “Who?”