2020 Dem candidates to hold debate on ‘monopoly power’

Democratic 2020 presidential candidates will meet in rural Iowa later this month to debate monopolies and approaches to antitrust enforcement, The Hill has confirmed.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), former Rep. John Delaney (Md.) and former Housing Secretary Julián Castro will participate in the presidential forum in Storm Lake, Iowa, on March 30, according to a spokeswoman for the event. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) will also attend.

The event is being hosted by HuffPost, the Storm Lake Times, the Open Markets Institute and the Iowa Farmers Union.

{mosads}”The overall frame will be about how monopoly power has led to economic disparities and decline in rural America,” Sarah Miller, the deputy director of Open Markets, told The Hill.

The event was first reported by Rolling Stone.

The debate comes as questions over corporate giants’ market power have become increasingly political. Last week, Warren unveiled a major campaign proposal to break up tech companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon, whose outsized influence has stifled small businesses and damaged democracy, she argued.

Miller said that the forum will focus on rural issues, like how agricultural giants have disrupted local farmers. Storm Lake is home to a large meatpacking plant operated by Tyson Foods.

But it will also feature discussions about how tech giants like Facebook and Google will have affected local news outlets in rural communities.

Miller added that the list of candidates participating in the forum could grow in the weeks leading up to the event.

“We’re going to be elevating questions from people from the local community,” she said.

Updated: March 13 at 10:44 a.m.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly listed one of the sponsors of the event.