Steve Bullock: Everything you need to know about the 2020 presidential candidate
Steve Bullock, a Democratic governor from the traditionally Republican state of Montana, was the 22nd Democratic candidate to join the 2020 presidential race. As a former two-term attorney general and Montana's current governor, Bullock entered the race with a proven bipartisan record in Helena, the state capital.
Out of the running: Bullock struggled to gain traction at the national level and failed to reach 2% in any of the Democratic National Committee qualifying polls. He only made one debate stage and raised a little over $4 million during his 202-day campaign.He suspended his campaign on Dec. 2.
Name: Stephen Clark Bullock
Party: Democrat
Date of birth: April 11, 1966
Hometown: Born in Missoula, Montana; raised in Helena, Montana
Family: Wife Lisa and children: Caroline, Alexandria and Cameron
Education: Bachelor's degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Claremont McKenna College (1988) and his juris doctor degree from Columbia University (1994)
What he does now: Bullock is serving his second term as governor, which ends in 2020. He will be ineligible to run for a third term. He was first elected in 2012 and leads a state that President Donald Trump won by 20 points in the 2016 presidential election. Bullock won his re-election the same year, despite the state's support for Trump, a theme highlighted in his announcement video.
What he used to do: Prior to becoming the governor, Bullock served two terms as Montana's attorney general and was the chief legal counsel to Montana Secretary of State Mike Cooney.
Key life/career moments:
As Montana’s attorney general, Bullock gained national attention by bringing Citizens United back to the Supreme Court. He challenged the 2010 decision on the grounds that it infringed on his state’s longtime ban on corporate money in politics, but the Court eventually ruled against him in a 5-4 decision.
Where he stands on some of the issues:
Bullock has staked his campaign on fighting the influence of “dark money” in politics, with a page on his campaign website detailing his plan to overturn Citizens United.
Unlike several other Democrats running for president, Bullock is against a Medicare-for-all plan that would establish a national single-payer health care system. He has instead called for an overhaul of the medicaid system to provide universal health care to the country while keeping private options alive.
On gun rights, Bullock supports universal background checks and limits on magazine capacities. Whereas he once rejected an anti-semi-automatic weapons bill in 2009, Bullock—a gun owner himself—is now in favor of an assault weapons ban.
Fundraising:
Bullock's campaign said they raised "over $2 million" from donors in all 50 states in the second quarter of 2019, though their announcement did not include specifics like the number of donors and the average contribution amount. Bullock entered the race on May 14, which was already halfway through the quarter.
What you might not know about him:
The one-time Helena High School homecoming king was involved in politics at a young age: He was student body president at Helena High School, student representative on the Montana Board of Public Education and -- in 1983 -- was the Youth Speaker of the House for the YMCA Youth and Government Program, according to the the Independent-Record in Helena.
In 1992, he was a 26-year-old delegate for former President Bill Clinton. Bullock went on to endorse former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, though he criticized her positions on coal.During the governor' race in 2012, he rented a 28-foot RV to drive across the Big Sky state. He named it the "Bullock mobile."
