With the 2020 election approaching, a long list of 24 Democrats have jumped at the opportunity to challenge President Trump. However, only two Republicans are currently running for the party’s nomination: incumbent President Donald Trump, and former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld. Describing Weld’s campaign as a long shot is an understatement: the last time an elected incumbent president lost his party’s nomination was in 1852. Despite historical precedent against him, Weld and his campaign have remained determined.

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Bill Weld’s Political Career

Weld’s political career began in 1978 when he unsuccessfully attempted to unseat Attorney General Francis X. Bellotti. Three years later in 1981, Ronald Reagan appointed Weld to the position of U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts. Weld led investigations into corruption within Boston Mayor Kevin White’s administration. Throughout the investigations, Weld’s team indicted city officials and mayoral aides on fraud and extortion charges. During his 1990 campaign for Governor of Massachusetts, Weld’s accomplishments as U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts aided him in defeating Boston University President John Silber. This made Weld the first Republican to win the Massachusetts gubernatorial election in 20 years. His victory shocked citizens and political experts– only about 14% of registered Massachusetts voters were Republicans in 1990. Even in the Republican primaries, Weld faced an uphill battle because his opponent Steven Pierce polled significantly ahead of him. The governor went on to make his mark passing socially liberal and economically conservative policies. He supported gay rights and abortion access and even implemented gun control measures in the Bay State. At the same time, Weld cut government spending and supported tax cuts. Businesses in Massachusetts thrived under his administration.

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His success won him reelection in 1994 with 71% of the vote. In 1997, he resigned from office when President Bill Clinton nominated him to become the United States Ambassador to Mexico. The Senate, however, repeatedly blocked his hearing, forcing him to withdraw his nomination. Weld’s political career since the early 1990s has been lackluster— he nearly gained the Republican nomination in the 2006 New York gubernatorial election but lost the nomination to John Faso.

Weld’s most recent notable political involvement is in the 2016 presidential election, where he joined Gary Johnson on the ticket as the Libertarian Party’s nominee for vice president. When his nomination was announced at the 2016 Libertarian Convention, he faced backlash for running as a Libertarian and Republican in New York in 2006 and for endorsing Barack Obama in 2008. A “Never Weld” movement splintered Libertarians, but Weld remained the nominee. Predictably, Johnson and Weld’s campaign did not win the election, but the campaign received about 3% of the popular vote.



Source: Charles Krupa/Associated Press

What are his stances?

At first, Weld’s seemingly moderate political position is a radical shift from Trump’s right-wing views. Rather than following the Republican Party’s hard opposition to abortion rights and same-sex marriage, Weld’s track record shows support for progressive ideals. He also believes in climate change and would rejoin the Paris Agreement if elected. On face value, he would appear like a Democrat to a far-right Republican, but Weld’s conservativism comes in his economic policies.

His website brags about being “the most fiscally conservative Governor in the country” while in office. He places a heavy emphasis on cutting government spending, often proposing a plan to shift the federal government to “zero-based budgeting,” a practice that forces different departments to justify all expenses in each new period rather than only justifying budget increases or decreases. Weld’s beliefs are on opposite ends of the political spectrum, and he’s well aware of his ideological polarization. In fact, he rejects the “moderate” label, claiming “I think of myself as an extreme on both fiscal policy and social policy. It’s just a different extreme, that’s all.”



Source: Brya R. Smith/Getty Images

Does he have a shot in 2020?

While Bill Weld may be the only other Republican who has announced candidacy for 2020, his “Never Trump” platform is a hard sell to the GOP. Trump’s approval ratings within the party are around 90%. Gaining support from Republicans is unlikely for Weld as the right is moving further right. In the past 40 years, self-identified Republicans report being more conservative on the General Social Survey and GOP Congresspeople receive scores closer to 1 on the DW-Nominate, meaning they are closer to “most conservative” score possible.

Weld is accustomed to a far more moderate Republican Party, but unfortunately for him, his brand of New England Republicanism is dying quickly in the age of the alt-right. Which leaves him a fraction of the voter base he might have once had. In order to even come close to Trump, Weld would need to carve out significant support from Trump’s base, but his liberal social agenda is unlikely to produce any backing. The Republican National Committee, or RNC, is also comfortable nominating Trump for a second term. They recently expressed their loyalty to the president by eliminating their debate committee, signaling that they do not plan to stage debates ahead of the primaries.

There’s also little chance that Weld could tap into enough of the independent or Libertarian base even to gain the Republican nomination. His campaign funding pales in comparison to those of his competitors; Trump and the RNC recently announced that combined, they have raised over $100 million in the second quarter. On the Democratic side, Biden, Buttigieg, and Sanders all raised over $20 million in the second quarter, Warren raised $19 million, and Harris raised $12 million. Bill Weld’s campaign raised only $688,000. With less financial support, Weld’s campaign will likely not be able to have the same outreach capabilities as his opponents.

Most independent will probably be swept up by Trump or one of the Democrats. Additionally, Weld has betrayed 2016 Libertarian voters. Until announcing his campaign as a Republican, many supporters believed Weld would run as a Libertarian. At the 2016 Libertarian Convention, Weld told an audience he was a “Libertarian for life,” promising that he meant he would “not go back to any other party.” However, the backlash Weld faced at the 2016 Libertarian Convention still resonates with Libertarians today. His disloyalty to his former party has proven their initial skepticism about the candidate. In the end, Weld only appeals to a niche of Never Trump Republicans who aren’t swayed by any of the Democratic candidates. Although Bill Weld may have a history of defying the odds in elections, he now has a history of the GOP, Libertarians, and Democrats against him on the national stage, making his 2020 candidacy his longest shot yet.



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Sasha Rieser Sasha Rieser is a junior at Needham High School where she's a captain on the Speech and Debate team as well as co-editor of the art and literary magazine and member of GirlUp. Throughout the past few years, she's become increasingly passionate about politics and hopes to contribute to the growing movement of teenagers using their voices and speaking up for their beliefs. Competing in speech and debate and developing an interest in writing has allowed her to advocate for her beliefs in a world increasingly divided by politics.

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