As March comes to a close, and with April right around the corner, 2019 has only a little more of half a year before we enter 2020. Although 2020 still seems miles away, and may appear to be just another year around the sun for some countries; for the United States, it’s time to start gearing up for the next presidential election (and if you haven’t guessed that’s in 2020).

 

Despite feeling like light years away, the long race for a shot at becoming the President of the United States in 2020 has already started, and boy is this one looking to be an interesting race. Candidate from both the Democratic and Republican parties have slowly started to announce if they will be or will not be running for president, and what kind of friends would we be if we didn’t break down the election cycle and what this all means!? Although we will be highlighting candidates intending to run in 2020, you can use this guide for any presidential election, just change out the candidates!

The year before the election:

Currently, we are in the early stages of the election process. Typically, March is when we start to see this phase of the cycle begin, however this is ongoing throughout all of springtime. During this time, you see all of the people who want to run in the upcoming presidential election. This is also known as a candidate announcing their intention to run. As of March 28th, 2019 , these are the candidates who have declared they intend to run in the 2020 election:

-Mayor Wayne Messam                                     -Senator Cory Booker

-Congressman Beto O’Rourke                          -Marianne Williamson

-Governor John Hickenlooper                         -Mayor Pete Buttigieg

-Governor Jay Inslee                                          -Senator Kamala Harris

-Senator Bernie Sanders                                    -Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

-Senator Amy Klobuchar                                   -Julián Castro

-Representative Tulsi Gabbard                        -Andrew Yang

-Senator Elizabeth Warren                               -Representative John Delaney

-Senator Richard Ojeda                                     -President Donald Trump

 

Once summertime rolls around and also continuing into the springtime of the election year, the Primary and caucus debates begin. These debates are held in every state and territory of the United States as they are crucial to the nomination process for each party. Primary debates are run by the state and its local government, where as caucus debates are privately run by each political party.

Election year:

From January to June in the current election year, states and parties begin their primary and caucus elections. Related to the debate, these elections are where candidates are weeded out and those who receive the most votes move further on in the race for presidency, whereas the losers are left deciding if they want to try again in another four years or give up the chase.

In July till October, the debates are held either privately or by the political parties to start the nominating conventions to choose their candidates. Once October comes, the chosen candidates begin to participate in presidential debates. These debates are more  known as they have more than just one political party participating in them, as well as those participating are the ones we know as actual candidates for election.

In early November, election day comes around, and we, the American people, vote for who we want to serve as president. In December, electors cast their votes to the electoral college. The electoral college is a group of appointed representatives who vote as representatives of the United States to help give everyone a voice. Check out more about how the electoral college works here!

The Year After Elections:

January:

In early January, Congress is in full work mode counting the electoral college. On January 20th, Inauguration Day, the winning candidate is sworn into office and officially becomes the President of The United States.

The rest is history! From January 20th till January 20th four years later, the elected President will serve the United States until one of the following occurs:

• is impeached
• steps down from office
• passes away while in office
• serves a second term (you can only serve a maximum of 8 years as president)
• decides to not run after his first term

 

By: K.J.

Edited: J.A.