Richard Ojeda 2020 presidential campaign

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Ojeda for President
File:Ojeda 2020.png
Campaign 2020 United States presidential election (Democratic Party primaries)
Candidate Richard Ojeda
State Senator from West Virginia (2016–2019)
Affiliation Democratic Party
Status Announced: November 11, 2018
Suspended: January 25, 2019
Headquarters Washington, DC
Slogan We Are Worthy[1]
Website
www.voteojeda.com

The 2020 presidential campaign of Richard Ojeda, member of the West Virginia Senate from the 7th district, was announced on November 11, 2018.[2][3] Ojeda was the second office-holding Democrat to announce a campaign for the 2020 U.S. presidential election, the first being Maryland Rep. John Delaney.[4] As no incumbent state legislator has ever mounted a serious bid for the presidency, Ojeda was considered a "longshot" and "underdog" candidate.[5][6]

If he had been elected, Ojeda would be the first West Virginian to become President of the United States. Ojeda would also have been the first combat veteran to be elected since President George H. W. Bush in 1988. He would also have been 50 years old on upon his inauguration in January 2021, the tenth youngest President in history. After 11 weeks, Ojeda suspended his campaign on January 25, 2019.[7][8][9]

Background

File:MAJ Richard Ojeda.jpg
Richard Ojeda military portrait.

Ojeda voted for Republican Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, having been a supporter of Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primaries. Ojeda since emerged as an outspoken critic of the President, and was featured prominently in the Michael Moore documentary Fahrenheit 11/9.[10][11]

Ojeda attracted national attention when he became a vocal supporter of the 2018 West Virginia teachers' strike and advocated the legalization of cannabis in the state.

According to Ojeda, his campaign only accepted donations from individual donors and labor unions. He won the Democratic primary on May 9, 2018, defeating Shirley Love, Janice Hagerman, and Paul Davis.

After improving Democratic results by 32 percentage points during his unsuccessful run against Carol Miller in West Virginia's 3rd congressional district in the 2018 election, Ojeda announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States on November 12, 2018.[12]

Politically Ojeda considers himself a progressive, but generally eschews political labels, saying in an interview with The Young Turks' Cenk Uygur:

"I think I'm pretty much a progressive for the most part, but I'm gonna be me; I'm gonna continue doing what I'm doing, I'm gonna continue fighting for the working class citizens, I'm gonna continue fighting for our sick, I'm gonna continue fighting for our veterans, I'm gonna do everything in my power to take care of our elderly, and do for our children out there, and I'm gonna try and create oppurtunities for those who live in poverty to elevate themselves out of poverty with a hand up. That's what I'm gonna do. Regardless of what that's called, that's me."[13]

His views have been likened more to left-wing populism, running on a Medicare for all, legalization of cannabis, anti-lobbyism and government accountability platform.[14][15]

Campaign

On November 11, 2018, Ojeda launching his presidential campaign with his first official rally in a union hall in Louisville, Kentucky, a city that, according to an aide, was chosen to invoke the fighting spirit of Louisville native, boxer Muhammad Ali. Ojeda announced with a fierce pledge to supporters, saying "I will never sell you out," to a crowd consisting mainly of union members and teachers like those he rallied for in the 2018 strike.[16][17]

Ojeda resigned from the West Virginia Senate on January 9, 2019, to focus on his presidential bid.[18][19][20] He dropped out of the race on January 25, 2019 citing his inability to get face time with the networks, and stating one must have access to wealth and power to run for office. He broadcast his withdrawal in an hour-long Facebook live feed.[7]

Political positions

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Richard N. Ojeda, II Twitter
@VoteOjeda2020

What does real criminal justice reform and attacking the opioid epidemic look like? It starts with no longer arresting people for simple possession and instead referring them to treatment. It looks like legalizing cannabis and letting people in our jails on those charges...out.

December 27, 2018[21]

Ideological orientation

Ojeda has been described as a populist[22][23] of the "left-wing variety",[23] and a "staunch progressive".[24] He identifies as a traditional working-class Democrat and laments what he perceives as a Democratic party that is increasingly drifting away from its working-class roots and becoming a party of the elite.[23]

Economy

Taxes

Ojeda was one of the few WV lawmakers who came out outspokenly in favor of raising taxes on corporations and the rich, calling for higher corporate taxes (particularly on coal and gas corporations that were the major economic players in WV) to offset spending cuts that had negatively affected public services and employees in the state.[25]

Labor rights

Ojeda is devoutly pro-union and has received $121,440 from several unions, including the American Federation of Teachers and the Teamsters' Union.[26][27][25][23] Ojeda opposes right-to-work laws.[25]

Reproductive rights

Ojeda is staunchly in favor of abortion rights, but calls himself "pro-life" because he "want[s] to see a reduction in abortion".[13] As a State Senator, Ojeda has voted against anti-abortion legislation.[25]<templatestyles src="Template:Quote_box/styles.css" />

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Richard N. Ojeda, II Twitter
@VoteOjeda2020

What does campaign finance reform look like? It starts with a convention for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, the max donation allowed being $250 and donor vouchers so that working families can be just as influential in elections as millionaires.

December 27, 2018[21]

Shortly after announcing his presidential bid, Ojeda responded to questions regarding his stance on abortion rights in a public statement while "framing the issue in terms of class and racial politics". In the statement, Ojeda expressed unequivocal and unwavering support for a woman's right to choose, announcing his intention to apply an abortion rights litmus test to judicial nominees were he to become president while vowing to oppose the Hyde Amendment and reinterpret the Helms Amendment, oppose arbitrary restrictions on abortion access, and quadruple Planned Parenthood funding. He also rejected the notion that considering oneself "pro-life" is synonymous with being anti-abortion or "pro-birth". Ojeda, who considers himself "pro-life", expressed the belief that the term should apply to advocacy of policies that allow women who desire to become mothers to do so when they choose by promoting family planning practices and contraceptive access (thus reduce unwanted pregnancies and the need for abortion) while also removing economic obstacles that may force women to undergo abortion due to socioeconomic hardships. He also pointed out that restrictions on abortion have historically predominantly affected minority and "poor and working class women" while the wealthy had the means to effectively circumvent the restrictions.[28]

Healthcare

Ojeda supports Medicare For All. He has also stated that Congress and the president should be barred from taking out extra insurance, and would instead have to rely on the standard healthcare which would be afforded every American citizen for the course of their terms to incentivize them in promoting and maintaining quality comprehensive universal healthcare coverage.[29]

Environment

Ojeda has called for sustainable energy.[24] He is in favor of a Green New Deal but not at the expense of workers.[30][31]

Ojeda has noted that he sees a limited role of the anthracite coal (like the one mined in his home state) in steel-making for the foreseeable future but has acknowledged that coal is "not gonna come back", and expressed his desire to find a way for miners to transition into some other good-paying jobs, concluding that "[i]f we can bail out the banks, there’s no reason we can’t create opportunity for the people who brought light to this country".[23]

Immigration

Ojeda supports Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and a pathway to citizenship for "Dreamers".[29][24]

Civil rights

Ojeda has expressed the belief that his ethnically diverse working class background gives him insight into the struggle of ethnic minorities in the United States, while questioning whether the same applies to the socially detached political and economic elites that predominate national politics.[23]

Cannabis

Ojeda has called for the legalization of marijuana and clemency for those incarcerated for possession.[32] During his tenure as State Senator, Ojeda spearheaded the passage of a bill legalizing medical marijuana.[33] He advocates directing funds raised from taxes on cannabis sales to fund public works.[24]

Campaign finance, political ethics, and transparency

Ojeda has said his campaign will focus on "lobbying and corruption in Washington", and has proposed stern measures to address political ethics.[23][13] Ojeda has proposed requiring body-cams on lobbyists in order to increase government transparency and public oversight.[23][34] He is a supporter of WolfPAC,[34] and has pledged not to take corporate donations for his campaign.[16]

Ojeda has proposed that federally elected officials and Cabinet officials must donate to charity any net worth exceeding one million dollars to prevent exploitation of political office for personal financial gain. He proposed that, upon retirement from public office, must be subject to an annual earnings limit of $120,000 (in addition to a $130,000 pension), "subject to automatic yearly cost of living adjustments."[1][23]<templatestyles src="Template:Quote_box/styles.css" />

date parameter should be reformatted to look like:
1 Jan 1970 or Jan 1, 1970
or removed.

Richard N. Ojeda, II Twitter
@VoteOjeda2020

What does checking big pharma look like? It starts by making them pay the drug recovery, banning their commercials – they spend millions every year on tv, and letting the government negotiate drug prices and produce generic meds

December 27, 2018[21]

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date parameter should be reformatted to look like:
1 Jan 1970 or Jan 1, 1970
or removed.

Richard N. Ojeda, II Twitter
@VoteOjeda2020

What does real economic growth look like? It looks like 30 million new union jobs where we not only unionize green jobs to implement the GND but we also professionalize and unionize community workers including healthcare, child care, prevention and more.

December 27, 2018[21]

Ojeda has called for implementing "donor vouchers," allocated funds that would give individual voters small amounts of money to donate to the candidate of their choice, to enhance the financial sway of individual, poorer voters.[35]

Criminal justice reform

Ojeda is in favor of criminal justice reform.[32]

Pharmaceutical companies

Ojeda has taken stances against Big Pharma,[36] focusing in particular on its role in sparking the opioid epidemic.[23]

Gun rights

Ojeda has been described as "pro-gun"[25] and supports the 2nd Amendment, but has denounced the NRA (saying he is proud of his F NRA rating), and has spoken out in favour of background checks and the closure of gunshow loopholes while opposing bump stocks.[29]

Endorsements

References

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  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "TweetVoteOjeda2020" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "TweetVoteOjeda2020" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "TweetVoteOjeda2020" defined multiple times with different content
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 23.5 23.6 23.7 23.8 23.9 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 25.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links

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