Andrew Yang 2020 presidential campaign

Friends of Andrew Yang
Campaign2020 United States presidential election (Democratic Party primaries)
CandidateAndrew Yang
Entrepreneur
Founder of Venture for America
AffiliationDemocratic Party
LaunchedNovember 6, 2017
SuspendedFebruary 11, 2020
HeadquartersNew York City, New York[1]
Key peopleEvan Low (Co-chair)[2]
Zach Graumann (Campaign Manager)[3]
ReceiptsUS$31,683,196.87[4] (12/31/2019)
SloganHumanity First
Not Left, Not Right, Forward
A New Way Forward
Make America Think Harder
Website
www.yang2020.com

The 2020 presidential campaign of Andrew Yang, an attorney, entrepreneur, and the founder of Venture for America, began on November 6, 2017, when Yang filed with the Federal Election Commission to participate in the Democratic primaries. Yang suspended his campaign on February 11, 2020, the night of the New Hampshire primary. On March 10, 2020, Yang endorsed Joe Biden for president.

With no prior political experience and low public recognition, Yang was widely considered a longshot candidate by the media during the early stages of his campaign. In April 2018, Yang released The War on Normal People, a book discussing job displacement, automation, and universal basic income (UBI), which were central to his campaign. Yang's profile significantly increased in early 2019 after appearing on the popular podcast The Joe Rogan Experience; he later appeared on numerous other podcasts, shows, and interviews. Yang's rise in notability was accompanied by the development of a devoted online fanbase that was known as the "Yang Gang". Yang raised about $41.6 million over the course of his campaign, with the vast majority of donations occurring during the final months of his candidacy. Yang qualified for and participated in all six Democratic primary debates held in 2019. In 2020, Yang did not meet the polling requirement for the seventh debate, but he later qualified for and participated in the eighth debate.

Yang's campaign strongly focused on the displacement of American workers through automation, a problem Yang stated was a major reason Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election. To remedy this, Yang proposed the "Freedom Dividend," a monthly UBI of $1,000 to every American adult. Another key aspect of his candidacy was what he called "Human-Centered Capitalism", which would have replaced several traditional economic metrics with an "American Scorecard". Yang initially supported Medicare for All, but later proposed preserving private health insurance. On electoral reform, Yang supported ranked-choice voting and the implementation of democracy vouchers to drown out corporate donations. Yang proposed a version of the Green New Deal that would have reduced dependence on fossil fuels through policies such as a carbon tax and support for nuclear power. Yang's other policies included the decriminalization of opiates and legalization of cannabis, support for abortion rights and LGBT rights, and stricter gun control measures.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Announcement was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Bajko, Matthew (January 15, 2020). "Gay CA Assemblyman Low to co-chair Yang presidential campaign". The Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  3. ^ "Organization of Friends of Andrew Yang – Staff, Advisors and Supporters". democracyinaction.us. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  4. ^ "Form 3P for Friends of Andrew Yang".