Tulsi Gabbard (TOI file photo)

WASHINGTON: Among the roughly two dozen Democrats eyeing a potential 2020 White House run , California-born Kamala Harris , whose mother Shyamala Gopalan was a cancer researcher from Tamil Nadu (her father Donald Harris was an economics professor from Jamaica), is a first-term Senator but is considered a consummate Democratic insider given her stints as a district attorney in San Francisco and attorney general of California.

The other Democrat with a "desi" connect, Tulsi Gabbard , is a Caucasian born in American Samoa to a Catholic father (Hawaii state senator Mike Gabbard) and a mother (Carol Porter Gabbard) who embraced Hinduism, as did the daughter when she was young. A self-described Hindu, Gabbard, if she wins the nomination, would be the first Hindu candidate ever from a major political party to run for president.

In addition, there is also talk on the Republican side that South Carolina governor Nikki Haley , a Sikh,born Nimrata Randhawa, could be eyeing a White House run in 2024.

But it is the crowded Democratic field that is garnering attention in the aftermath of the midterm polls in which Democrats performed well.

Other aspirants being mentioned in the race for the Democratic ticket are Senators Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Kirsten Gilibrand, and Elizabeth Warren; former vice-president Joe Biden; New York ex-mayor Michael Bloomberg, current and ex-governors Jay Inslee, Terry McAuliffe and Martin O'Malley, besides others like Starbucks tycoon Howard Schultz and attorney Michael Avenatti. Then there are the insiders who are sentimental favourites of other insiders: Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama.

There's not much confusion on the Republican side. President Trump has said he will contest with vice-president Mike Pence as his running mate.

