Top oddsmakers have Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) as the early favorite to win the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
According to a Wednesday evening report in the San Francisco Chronicle, on Oddshark, “Harris has surged into a tie with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for the best Democratic odds to win the 2020 presidential election.” The report also notes that Oddschecker, which compares betting odds across various sites and sportsbooks, gives Harris “9/2 odds to win the Democratic nomination, followed by Joe Biden with 11/2 odds.”
President Donald Trump, though, is still the favorite to win reelection, with Oddshark reportedly giving him +140 to win in 2020 while Oddschecker gives Trump 11/8 odds.
To win her party’s nomination, the freshman California Senator who recently said she would not rule out a 2020 run will need the support of black voters, especially in early primary states like South Carolina. Harris told the left-wing Netroots conference last week that when it comes to “identity politics,” Democrats “won’t be shut up” and be “silenced.”
“We shouldn’t just be thanking women of color for electing progressive leaders, in 2018 we should be electing women of color as those leaders,” Harris said at Netroots. “Now, I’m aware that some people will say that what I just said is playing ‘identity politics.’ I have a problem with that phrase, ‘identity politics.’ When people say that, it’s a pejorative. That phrase is used to divide and used to distract.”
Harris, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, will likely up her profile even more during the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Though the early money may be on Harris, the most recent Harvard-Harris 2020 presidential primary poll of registered Democrats had Biden in the lead with 32 percent, followed by Hillary Clinton (18 percent), Sanders (16 percent), and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren (10 percent). Harris was seventh with two percent.