USA Today: 2020 Democrats Sanders, Klobuchar, Warren, Gabbard to join forum on women of color

WASHINGTON – A presidential forum focusing on issues important to women of color has drawn four more Democratic hopefuls, signaling the key role these women are likely to play in the 2020 battle for the party’s nomination.

In a nod to the political power of women of color, seven Democratic presidential candidates will lay out their agendas at a forum April 24 at Texas Southern University, a historically black institution in Houston.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, as well as Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, will attend the forum hosted by She the People, organizers confirmed in an exclusive to USA TODAY.

“We’ve set the table, and we’ve invited everybody to dinner,” said Aimee Allison, president and founder of She the People. “We want to have this conversation. … Women of color are voting like our lives depend on it. It does."

Candidates who previously confirmed their attendance include Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro. Organizers of what is billed as the first presidential forum hosted by women of color invited all declared Democratic presidential candidates. Seven of the eight spots reserved for candidates at the forum were filled by Friday.