Montana Gov. Steve Bullock announced Tuesday his plans to run for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
“I believe in an America where every child has a fair shot to do better than their parents,” Bullock, 53, said in an announcement video posted on social media. “We need to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 and defeat the corrupt system that lets campaign money drown out the people's voice, so we can finally make good on the promise of a fair shot for everyone.”
Here are eight things to know about Bullock:
- Bullock was born April 11, 1966, in Missoula, Montana, according to the Missoulian. He was raised in Helena, Montana.
- In 1984, Bullock graduated from Helena High School. He went on to complete a bachelor's degree at California's Claremont McKenna College in 1988, and a law degree with honors from New York's Columbia University Law School in 1994.
- Bullock launched his career in public service in 1996, when he became chief legal counsel to the Montana secretary of state. For four years after that, he served as executive assistant attorney general and then as acting chief deputy of the Montana Department of Justice.
- In 2001, Bullock left the state Department of Justice for Washington, where he practiced law as part of the Steptoe & Johnson firm. During his time in Washington, he also worked as an adjunct professor at George Washington University School of Law. He moved back to Helena to start his own law firm in 2005.
- Bullock was elected as Montana's 20th attorney general in November 2008 with 53% of the vote. During his time in office, he focused on reducing drunken driving, curbing prescription drug abuse, strengthening consumer protections and establishing the state DOJ's Children's Justice Center, which he founded after taking office.
- Bullock was elected to serve as governor in November 2012 with 49% of the vote. He was subsequently reelected in 2016 with 50% of the vote.
- Bullock had been considering a presidential run for years before his Tuesday announcement. Some speculated he'd see success, since he won the 2016 governor's race as a Democrat in a state that voted overwhelmingly for the election of President Donald Trump, while others questioned his ability to connect with voters outside Montana. "If there's something—constructively—that I can add, and that extends beyond just the party, but to the direction that this country's going, as a father of a 15-, 13- and 10-year-old, damn it, I'd better figure out a way to do it," he told Politico Magazine in 2017.
- Bullock and his wife, Lisa, have three children: Caroline, Alexandria and Cameron.
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