Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Announces Run for President; Supported Standing Rock Indigenous Movement

Sarah Eagle Heart with Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) at the Standing Rock rally in Lafayette Square on March 10, 2017. Native News Online photos by Levi Rickert

Published Janurary 12, 2019

WASHINGTON — Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), the first Samoan American in Congress, announced on Friday she will seek the Democratic party’s presidential nomination in 2020. Gabbard has represented Hawaii’s 2 Congressional District since 2013.

“I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week,” she said during a pretaped interview on CNN’s “The Van Jones Show.” She is expected to make a formal announcement next week.

“There is one main issue that is central to the rest, and that is the issue of war and peace,” Gabbard said, according to CNN. “I look forward to being able to get into this and to talk about it in depth when we make our announcement.”

Friday’s announcement by Gabbard puts her in the race with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) who announced her candidacy for president last week. Over 20 Democrats have expressed interest in seeking the Democratic party’s nomination next year.

Gabbard, 37, a U.S. Army National Guard veteran, who served two tours of duty in Iraq, demonstrated her support with other veterans at Standing Rock resistance to the Dakota Access pipeline during the first weekend of December 2016.

“Our real fight is protect water that protects life of our people and our planet,” Gabbard told the veterans at Sittlng Bull College.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard at Standing Rock in December 2016.

Gabbard recently visited Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two states to cast ballots for president next year.

Gabbard made national news in February 2016 when she resigned as a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee and endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.

On Friday a TULSI 2020 website was launched.