The Democratic Party held its fourth official debate in Ohio, with Elizabeth Warren as the assumed frontrunner and expectations she would be attacked as such.

As it was, there was plenty of sparring involving many of the candidates, even if there were fewer fireworks than there might have been given how much was at stake, especially for the lower-ranked candidates seeking to break through in name recognition.

Ms Warren did come under fire, perhaps most notably from Pete Buttigieg, who decided he needed to deliver a jab or two.

Overall, Ms Warren was impressive and smart, though perhaps did no more than hold the ground. Whether she will see her numbers move as a result of what happened tonight is debatable.

The same is probably true for Joe Biden, who almost appeared more relaxed now he was no longer the frontrunner.

Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Show all 23 1 /23 Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Joe Biden The former vice president - poised to be a frontrunner - has announced his run. He recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well AFP/Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Bernie Sanders The 2016 runner-up has announced that he will be running again in 2020 Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Hillary Clinton The 2016 Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of State says she is “still considering” whether she will run again. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Pete Buttigieg The Indiana mayor and war veteran will be running for president. If elected, he would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Kamala Harris The former California attorney general will be running for president in 2020. Introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions’ testimony, she has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Elizabeth Warren The Massachusetts Senator has formally launched her bid for president in 2020. A progressive Democrat, she is a major supporter of regulating Wall Street. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Beto O’Rourke The former Texas congressman told Oprah Winfrey that he “has been thinking about running for presidency”, but stopped short of formally announcing his bid to run in 2020. AFP/Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Wayne Messam Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam has announced his bid. He intends to run on a progressive platform against the "broken" federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. Vice News Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Kirsten Gillibrand The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that “healthcare should be a right, not a privilege.” Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Cory Booker The New Jersey Senator has announced that he will be running for the presidency in 2020. If he secures the nomination he said finding a female vice president would be a priority. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? John Delaney The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Julian Castro The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a “special meaning” for the Latino community in the US. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Tulsi Gabbard The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but is likely to face tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Andrew Yang The entrepreneur has announced his presidential candidacy, and has pledged that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18. AFP/Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Marianne Williamson The author and spiritual advisor has announced her intention to run for president. She had previously run for congress as an independent in 2014 but was unsuccessful. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? John Kerry The former secretary of state has said he is still thinking about whether to run. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Michael Bloomberg The entrepreneur and former New York mayor– with a net worth of around $50bn – has said he will decide by the end of February whether to seek the presidency. AFP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Howard Schultz Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has not yet ruled out running for president in 2020, despite criticism that his bid could help re-elect Mr Trump by dividing the Democrat vote. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Eric Holder The former attorney general has said he will decide in “the next month or so” whether to run as a 2020 presidential candidate. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Eric Swalwell The California congressman said he is “ready to do this” and will decide before April whether to run. MSNBC Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Terry McAuliffe The former Virginia governor, who worked to elect Democratic governors during 2018 midterms, said there was a “50 per cent” chance he would run. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Sherrod Brown The Ohio senator is still undecided about whether to run for president in 2020. Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Mitch Landrieu The former New Orleans mayor said he doesn’t think he will run for president, but “never say never”. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

He deftly dealt with a question about accusations made by Donald Trump about his business activities and those of his son in Ukraine. All lists are subjective and open to discussion, but here are six candidates who stood out for different reasons.

Winners:

Kamala Harris

After making lots of noise in the first debate when she challenged Joe Biden on his record on race relations, the California senator has rather slipped away at the subsequent encounters. On Tuesday night she appeared to be back in the fight. Her best line was about women’s access to reproductive healthcare.

“This is the sixth debate we have had in this presidential cycle. Not one word with all of these discussions about health care, on women’s access to reproductive health care. It’s outrageous,” she said. “People need to keep their hands off of women’s bodies and let women make the decisions about their own lives.”

Pete Buttigieg

Most polls show the Indiana mayor alternating with Kamala Harris for fourth place in the race behind Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. He knew he needed to mix things up a bit with the front runners and he did so, arguing for expanding the Affordable Care Act rather than moving to Medicare for All, the government-backed health care programme supported Mr Sanders and Ms Warren. He said: “I don’t understand why you believe the only way to deliver affordable coverage to everybody is to obliterate private plans, kicking 150 million Americans off of their insurance in four short years.”

Some will hate the notion that the Hawaii congresswoman had a good night, but those people have likely already written her off as a Bashar al-Assad-loving outlier. Her supporters say she speaks truth to power and her line about the US’s involvement in the Middle East was delivered with gusto. “The slaughter of the Kurds being done by Turkey is yet another negative consequence of the regime-change war that we’ve been waging in Syria. Donald Trump has the blood of the Kurds on his hand — but so do many of the politicians in our country from both parties who have supported this ongoing regime-change war in Syria that started in 2011, along with many in the mainstream media, who have been championing and cheerleading this regime-change war. ”

Who are the Democrat candidates running for US president in 2020?

Losers:

Tom Steyer

Twitter was apparently lit up with admiration for the 62-year-old billionaire’s tie. Yet having spent up to $30 million of his own money on ad campaigns and outreach to qualify for the race, he revealed he had very little to say. What a waste.

Julian Castro

The Texan got praise, and some criticism, after the previous debate in Houston for asking tough questions about whether Joe Biden was physically and mentally up to the job. He was smart, quick on his feet, and had lots of good stuff to say on immigration. In Ohio, he might as well not have been there. Barely a murmur.

Beto O’Rourke

The last debate in Houston came days after the mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart, an event to which the congressman responded with passion and empathy. He won huge praise for calling out Donald Trump on gun control, and accusing him of stirring the sort of hatred that let to the shooting. Debates are not his best venue. But his supporters will be disappointed that he did so little in Ohio to follow up the more passionate performance in Houston.

Special mention: