WASHINGTON — The 2020 Democratic presidential field is a historically diverse group of candidates, and that’s already having a profound and palpable effect on the primary campaign.

The more than 20 candidates running for the Democratic nomination are diverse on racial, gender, sexual orientation and generational lines. In some cases, such as with women, African American and Millennial candidates, the sheer number is historic.

Longtime Democrats say the result is more than a theoretical advantage going into next year’s race against President Trump — it’s changing the primary’s conversation in substantive ways and energizing communities that have long felt underrepresented at the decision-making table.

The breadth of the field was on display in the first Democratic debates Wednesday and Thursday nights. Each featured three women, a first, and each featured one African American candidate, one of whom is also South Asian. There was a Latino candidate, a gay candidate, an Asian American and a Pacific Islander. Their age range spanned 40 years.

But the diversity went beyond visuals. Several times, candidates tapped into their unique perspective on policy issues to make broader points.

Back to Gallery Democrats feel power in diverse field of candidates 4 1 of 4 Photo: Sean Rayford, Getty Images 2 of 4 Photo: Sean Rayford / Getty Images 3 of 4 Photo: Saul Loeb, AFP/Getty Images 4 of 4 Photo: Cliff Hawkins, Getty Images







When New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said raising his biracial African American son gave him a special understanding among the candidates about the need for social justice, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker interjected: “As an African American man in an African American-dominated community, I knew one of the biggest issues was criminal justice reform, from police accountability to dealing with the fact that we have a nation that has more African Americans under criminal supervision than all of the slaves in 1850.”

When California Sen. Kamala Harris teed up her personal and commanding criticism of former Vice President Joe Biden’s comments about working with segregationists and opposing school integration busing in the 1970s, she began by demanding the moderators include her in a discussion of police relations with communities of color, saying: “As the only black person on this stage, I would like to speak on the issue of race.”

Booker and Harris were widely grouped among the debates’ stars, along with other groundbreaking candidates — former Housing Secretary Julián Castro, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., who is both the youngest in the field at 37 and the first openly gay major contender.

“To me what it calls forth is how long your identity has been dismissed or denigrated as identity politics ... where it was only OK to use your identity if you were a white guy,” said Aimee Allison, founder of the group She the People, which backs women of color in politics, and president of Democracy in Color.

But she said that dynamic changed with the debates.

“It’s using your identity to explain your politics, and to say that who you are and your life experience informs and strengthens your political view — it gives you expertise,” Allison said. “After all that time of that being used like a cudgel, I really think we’re entering an era where it’s OK to be you — all of you. ... It’s deeply personal and profoundly powerful. So that’s validating for millions of us who have been dismissed.”

The presence of diverse candidates also changed the way white male candidates onstage spoke about the issues, Allison said.

She pointed to Dublin Rep. Eric Swalwell interrupting Buttigieg’s answer on dealing with the pain in his community after a police officer fatally shot a black man. In what Allison saw as a nod to movements like Black Lives Matter, Swalwell told Buttigieg he should have fired the police chief over the incident.

Matt Barreto, a UCLA professor and co-founder of Latino Decisions, a research and polling firm, noted that Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders moved away from February comments he made to Vermont Public Radio that Americans “have got to look at candidates, you know, not by the color of their skin, not by their sexual orientation or their gender and not by their age.”

Asked Thursday night if he was trying to dissuade voters from considering diversity when they pick a candidate, Sanders replied: “No, absolutely not. Unlike the Republican Party, we encourage diversity, we believe in diversity. That’s what America is about.”

Drawing on personal experience also helped Castro, the only Latino candidate in the field, in an exchange with fellow Texan former Rep. Beto O’Rourke over immigration. Castro chastised O’Rourke for not embracing his proposal to decriminalize crossing the border without authorization, saying O’Rourke hadn’t done his “homework.”

“Beto thought he had a good handle on immigration and Castro challenged him, and he brought that extra lens to the conversation,” Barreto said. “The next day, what happens? One of the questions where they ask everyone to raise their hands on was a direct response to Castro challenging them to decriminalize being undocumented. ... They’re moving the conversation because of their background.”

The debates were also significant because several of the candidates who aren’t white men were seen as the ones who shone.

“I don’t know if other Black women feel this way today but seeing @KamalaHarris THAT self-assured on a stage at a presidential debate is having a deep impact on me,” tweeted political analyst Zerlina Maxwell; “like I’m shook.”

I don't know if other Black women feel this way today but seeing @KamalaHarris THAT self-assured on a stage at a presidential debate is having a deep impact on me.



like I'm shook. — Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell) June 28, 2019

For many candidates of underrepresented communities, the “electability” factor is a persistent anchor on their support, a perception they believe is fueled by voters’ biases in favor of white male candidates who have won in the past.

“Seeing (Harris) next to Biden after having been told for so long, for months, that Biden was most likely to win showed me what a lie electability was built on,” Allison said. “She’s overcoming these biases to present herself as presidential, and a lot of us were talking about how we could imagine her besting Trump in a debate.”

Barreto felt similarly seeing Castro excel on the first night.

“He has a lot of support among general Latino political consultants — even if they’re on other campaigns, they’re cheering for him,” Barreto said. “A lot of us were upset he wasn’t getting more attention, and so it was appreciated that the media seemed to say, ‘This guy has his stuff together and did well.’”

The Democratic National Committee would be wise to encourage more diverse candidates to run, Barreto added, saying they often face disadvantages in fundraising and attracting media attention that white male candidates do not.

Attracting more diverse candidates could prove beneficial to the party, said Neera Tanden, president of the policy group Center for American Progress.

“What I think is a great opportunity around this diverse field is that all kinds of Americans can see themselves in that debate stage, and there’s been a lot of early excitement,” Tanden said, noting the record number of viewers for the Thursday debate.

“In 2007 and 2008, you saw a lot of enthusiasm, the primary process was interesting and captivating, and it brought a lot of people into the process who voted for the Democratic Party and the nominee (Barack Obama) afterward,” Tanden said. “Hopefully, this diverse field, if it doesn’t get too negative, even people who haven’t voted in the past can see themselves somewhere in the stage and decide to become part of the primary process and the general election.”

Tal Kopan is The San Francisco Chronicle’s Washington correspondent. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan