W.V. Dem Ojeda launches long-shot presidential bid
West Virginia Democrat Richard Ojeda has jumped into what's expected to be a crowded field for the party's 2020 presidential nomination, making him the first Democrat to do so after last week's midterm elections.
Ojeda filed his campaign with the Federal Election Commission Sunday night, unveiling his intentions in an interview with The Intercept and releasing a 30-second ad that evokes his Army service.
"I never dreamed that I would come home only to find children in my own backyard who have it worse than the kids I saw in Afghanistan. I spent decades fighting for this country and now it's time to go to D.C. and defend our homeland," he says in the ad.
"Make no mistake about it: I will stand with the working-class citizens over all else. If they don't like it, hit the road."
The Democrat also unveiled an early piece of his platform, which would force federal elected officials and Cabinet members to donate any net worth over $1 million to charity, place caps on future income earned by those officials and bar those officials from access to healthcare plans that aren't provided to average Americans.
Ojeda faces a significant uphill battle, as he lacks the national notoriety and resources available to the top-tier of presidential hopefuls. But he's hoping that his unique brand and populist campaigning can help him break through.
The state senator and former Army Major gained some national prominence during his recent bid for Congress, where he significantly overperformed Democrats in the reddest district in his state as a spurned Trump voter who embraced progressive populism and played a key role in the state's teacher strikes. Yet, he still fell short by more than a dozen percentage points to future Republican Congresswoman Carol Miller.
Ojeda is only the second major Democratic candidate to declare for office—Maryland Rep. John Delaney has been running since last year. More are expected to announce in the coming months, as the full field is expected to swell to more than a dozen candidates.
Michael Avenatti, the lawyer and anti-Trump provocateur who is floating his own presidential bid, is already taking aim at Ojeda on Twitter, arguing that his vote for Trump will come back to haunt him in a Democratic primary.
NBC's Garrett Haake and Kailani Koenig caught up with Ojeda during his final days on the campaign trail, check out their conversation below.