It’s on! 2020 Democrats turn to toppling Trump

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York won with 66.6 percent, 33 points over the Republican, while Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota won with 60.3 percent compared to 36.2 percent for the Republican candidate. But the figure who generated most buzz was Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, a Democrat who won in Trump country – Ohio was crucial to Trump’s 2016 win – who was re-elected with a 53.2 percent to 46.8 percent margin.

Brown has insisted he won’t run in 2020 but some Democrats would like to draft him, seeing in him a candidate with populist credentials who could win back some of the blue collar voters who deserted the Democrats from Trump in 2016.

His victory speech on Tuesday signaled that 2020 was on his mind as he referenced his victory in a state that “pundits say is just too hard for a progressive Democrat.” He added: “We celebrate the worker. And that is the blueprint for America in 2020.”

As many as 30 Democrats could end up running for president in 2020.

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, all but certain to be a 2020 candidate, wasn’t on the ballot but the other senator from the Garden State brought up his name. In his victory speech, Menendez said he’d been told that his fellow New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, also a Democrat, “may be busy very very soon.”

“Cory, everybody in this room is ready to get on board to make sure that happens,” Menendez said.

Additionally, University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato floated that Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, would run for president in 2020, before it was revealed that O’Rourke had narrowly lost his Senate race to to incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.

“Win or lose, @BetoORourke may be drafted to run for the D POTUS nomination,” Sabato tweeted Tuesday before the Texas Senate race was called for Republican incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz. “No one else in the D field seems to come close to matching his appeal to the grassroots.”

“Suppose @BetoORourke wins. Obama only had 4 years in Senate,” he added. “Suppose @BetoORourke loses. There was another guy who lost a Senate race and was elected President two years later. A fellow named Abraham Lincoln.”

O’Rourke claimed earlier this week that he “will not be a candidate for president in 2020.”

Gillibrand texted supporters after she secured her victory Tuesday night: “This is only the beginning, and I can’t wait to keep fighting alongside you,” Gillibrand, who has been identified as a potential 2020 candidate, said in the text.

Republicans have already secured a majority in the Senate for the next Congress, but it’s likely the Democrats will control the lower chamber.