Mike Gravel 2020 presidential campaign | |
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Campaign | 2020 United States presidential election (Democratic primaries) |
Candidate | Mike Gravel U.S. Senator from Alaska (1969โ1981) Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives (1965โ1967) Member of the Alaska House of Representatives (1963โ1967) |
Affiliation | Democratic Party |
EC formed | March 19, 2019 |
Announced | April 8, 2019 |
Suspended | August 6, 2019 |
Headquarters | Ardsley, New York |
Key people | David Oks (campaign manager) Henry Williams (chief of staff) Henry Magowan (treasurer)[1] |
Receipts | US$120,798.51[2] (2019-09-30) |
Slogan | No More Wars |
Website | |
www.mikegravel.org |
The 2020 presidential campaign of Mike Gravel, former U.S. senator from Alaska, began on March 19, 2019 with the formation of an exploratory committee,[3] followed on April 2, 2019 with his campaign filing with the Federal Elections Commission to officially run for the presidency.[4][5] Gravel's initial intention was not to win the nomination, but rather to inject his platform into the conversation so that his ideas become part of the mainstream,[6] though he announced that he was "running to win" on April 29,[7] potentially after realizing that a candidacy focused on sending a message rather than putting him in the presidency might disqualify him from the primary debates.[8]
The campaign was also notable for its young leadership; manager David Oks and chief of staff Henry Williams were only 18 years old.[9] The pair, and other young staffers, developed an online identity and fanbase as the "Gravel Teens."[9]
The campaign reached 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, officially qualifying him for the second Democratic presidential primary debate.[10] However, he was left out of the debate as he only qualified via donations (which are given less weight than polling).[11] Gravel indicated in July[12] (as well as early August)[13] that the campaign would come to a close soon, with Gravel's campaign staff stating on Twitter on August 5, 2019, that they will be "dropping out very soon".[14]
Gravel officially dropped out on August 6, 2019. He endorsed Bernie Sanders the same day, while simultaneously endorsing Tulsi Gabbard to be Sanders's running mate.[15][16] Had Gravel won the 2020 election, he would have become the oldest president in American history, being 90 years old at the time of the inauguration in January 2021.