Gabbard considering 2020 run: report

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) is reportedly considering entering a likely crowded field of Democratic candidates for the party’s 2020 presidential nomination.

Politico reports that Gabbard adviser Rania Batrice is reaching out to speechwriters and digital campaign staff with no explicit mention of a 2020 run, but with such a time frame heavily implied.

No staffing additions have been made yet, but several potential staffers have been contacted, according to the report.

Batrice reportedly did not dispute that the progressive Hawaii lawmaker is mulling a 2020 bid, but cautioned that Gabbard is currently focused on her reelection campaign.

{mosads}Gabbard endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary. Sanders himself is also considered a potential 2020 contender. 

“I think everybody is focused on 2018, but we will see what happens after that,” Batrice told Politico.

“Someone like Tulsi, with her experience, is an important voice in the party and the country,” she added.

Gabbard’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill on Saturday.

Gabbard, the first Hindu lawmaker to serve in Congress, was first elected in 2012 and later became a vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee.

She resigned that position in 2016 amid her endorsement of Sanders’s presidential campaign.

The Hawaii lawmaker also drew criticism from some last year for meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad, which she has insisted was not planned amid a trip that was focused on peace efforts in war-torn Syria.

Gabbard, a military veteran, remains a vocal opponent of U.S. military action in Syria and broader escalation of U.S. intervention in the Middle East.