During his tenure, Mr. Bennet has developed a reputation as a studious senator with a habit of mulling decisions for weeks. He has bucked the more liberal base of his party on a number of big issues, including his support of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. His frustration with the Trump administration, however, has brought him more in line with colleagues to his left.

His maternal grandparents were Jews who fled the Warsaw Ghetto, moving their family out of Poland to Mexico and eventually to New York. (Mr. Bennet’s parents raised him with Jewish and Christian traditions.)

His younger brother, James Bennet, is the editorial page editor of The New York Times. James Bennet recused himself on Thursday “from any work generated by the opinion desk related to the 2020 presidential election,” The Times said in a statement.

After stints as an aide to the Ohio governor and as counsel at the Justice Department, Michael Bennet came to Colorado, where he took a job with the Anschutz Investment Co., restructuring corporate debt. He later joined the administration of Mr. Hickenlooper, then the mayor of Denver, and spent several years as the superintendent of Denver Public Schools.

He lives in Denver with his wife, Susan Daggett, a natural resources lawyer, and their three daughters.

In January, after his impassioned speech on the Senate floor, Mr. Bennet went on MSNBC, where he was asked if he was considering a run for president. “I’m thinking about it,” he said, adding that he thought the nation was moving in a “terrible direction.”

“Donald Trump is much more a symptom of our problems than he is the creator of our problems,” the senator said. “He is an accelerant. He was sent here to blow this place up. That’s what people in my state who voted for him said. And guess what? They succeeded. But now we’ve got to pick up the pieces.”</s>What’s more puzzling about Michael Bennet’s bid for president: the fact that he’s making it, or the fact that he might not even be the last Democratic candidate to join the race?

The senator from Colorado announced his plan to run for president on Thursday, making him the 21st candidate in the Democratic field. Bennet is a well-respected member of the Senate, viewed as serious, sober, and interested in working across the aisle. But still, the prevailing question about Bennet’s campaign is why.

Here’s what he said in a tweet Thursday morning:

All well and good—who can disagree with better prospects for the next generation, opportunity, and integrity? But it’s hardly a unique message for a presidential candidate, and Bennet—a mild-mannered white guy with a business background—is not the most dynamic messenger for it. He’s not even the first amiable, mild-mannered, bipartisanship-focused former businessman from Colorado to get into the race. That honor goes to former Governor John Hickenlooper, who’s currently polling in the very low single digits.

There was a time when jumping into this race on something like a whim didn’t seem crazy. For the first time in several cycles, there was no single obvious Democratic front-runner. With an open field, why not throw your hat in the ring and see where it goes? But if that logic was alluring in November, or January, or even March, it’s a little harder to accept in May, with 20 candidates already in the field. Even well-known candidates with more specific sales pitches are struggling to break through the field, or to break out of the low single digits. They’re scrapping for money, too, as donors try to decide who deserves their coin and whether to give now or wait. These challenges are going to be even stiffer for a candidate joining at this late stage, after Joe Biden’s entry.

Last month, Matt Flegenheimer of The New York Times laid out some of the reasons that little-known candidates might run for president despite having no real shot. For representatives like Eric Swalwell or Seth Moulton, who are stuck in the House rank and file for the foreseeable future, it can help raise a profile for future endeavors or for statewide office. It can build a fundraising base. It can lead to a lucrative career in TV or public speaking. But it’s not clear how any of this applies to Bennet. He’s already the senior senator in his state, and by politician standards, he’s not much of a grandstander. (His breakout moment on the national stage, such as it was, was an atypically angry rebuke of Ted Cruz during the January government shutdown.)

Yet Bennet might not be the last candidate in. Governor Steve Bullock of Montana, another amiable Western who touts his ability to work with Republicans, will announce the week of May 13, according to MTN News. Stacey Abrams, who lost a close battle for governor of Georgia in 2018, passed on a U.S. Senate run this week, but still hasn’t announced a final decision on a presidential race.

As the Democratic field grows larger and larger, there remain few contenders elsewhere. On the GOP side, Weld, the former Massachusetts governor, is running against Donald Trump. Republican Representative Justin Amash of Michigan is reportedly considering a Libertarian Party bid, and there will be other third-party hopefuls, too.

As the presidential primaries progress, this cheat sheet will be updated regularly.

Who is he?

 The Coloradan was appointed to the Senate in 2009 and has since won reelection twice.

Is he running?

 Yes. Bennet announced his campaign on May 2.

Why does he want to run?

 Like his fellow Rocky Mountain State Democrat John Hickenlooper, Bennet presents himself as someone with experience in business and management who knows how to work with Republicans.

Who wants him to run?

 Probably some of the same people who want Hickenlooper to run. Bennet gained new fans with a viral video of his impassioned rant about Ted Cruz during the January 2019 government shutdown.

Can he win?

 Perhaps, but he has a crowded lane and only a small national profile.

Who is he?

 Don’t play coy. You know the former vice president, senator from Delaware, and recurring Onion character.

Is he running?

 Yes. After a long series of hesitations, Biden announced his campaign on April 25.

Why does he want to run?

 Biden has wanted to be president since roughly forever, and he thinks he might be the best bet to win back blue-collar voters and defeat President Trump in 2020. (Trump reportedly agrees.) But Biden seems reluctant to end his career with a primary loss, knows he’s old (he’ll turn 78 right after Election Day 2020), and is possibly out of step with the new Democratic Party.

Who wants him to run?

 If you believe the polls, he’s ahead of the rest of the Democratic pack. It’s not clear how durable that support is, though.

Can he win the nomination?

 It’s possible. Being Barack Obama’s vice president gave Biden a fresh glow, but his past policy stands and his tendency toward handsiness threaten to stop him in his tracks. We’ve also seen him run for president twice before, and not very effectively.

Who is he?

 A third-term congressman from Massachusetts, Moulton graduated from Harvard, then served in the Marines in Iraq.

Is he running?

 Yes. He announced his campaign on April 22.

Why does he want to run?

 In an interview with BuzzFeed, he said he felt the Democratic Party needs younger leaders and, alluding to his military career, “someone … for whom standing up to a bully like Donald Trump isn’t the biggest challenge he or she has ever faced in life.”

Who wants him to run?

 That’s not clear. With his sparkling résumé and movie-star looks, Moulton has grabbed a lot of attention, but he doesn’t have an obviously strong constituency, and a rebellion against Nancy Pelosi’s leadership after the 2018 election fizzled.

Can he win?

 It’s hard to say, but his campaign is off to an inauspicious start. Moulton is an untested campaigner outside the House and doesn’t have much of a national profile.

Who is he?

 Swalwell, who is 38, is a U.S. representative from California’s Bay Area.

Is he running?

 Yes. Swalwell announced his candidacy on April 8 on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

Why does he want to run?

 Swalwell is running on a gun-control platform. He also says the Democratic Party needs fresh blood. “We can’t count on the same old leaders to solve the same old problems,” he told The Mercury News. “It’s going to take new energy and new ideas and a new confidence to do that.”

Who wants him to run?

 Swalwell’s seat on the House Intelligence Committee has made him a prominent Trump persecutor, but it’s still a bit of a mystery.

Can he win the nomination?

 No? Let’s go with no.

Who is he?

 Gravel, 88, represented Alaska for two terms in the Senate, during which he read the Pentagon Papers into the Congressional Record and fought against the Vietnam War. These days he’s probably better known for his 2008 presidential campaign.

Is he running?

 Yes. His campaign launched on April 8.

Why does he want to run?

 Gravel is running to bring attention to his pet issues: direct democracy, nuclear proliferation, and a noninterventionist foreign policy.

Who wants him to run?

 This is where it gets weird. The committee is the brainchild of three students in college and high school who have basically created a Draft Gravel movement. But Gravel decided he liked the idea and went along with it.

Can he win the nomination?

 He doesn’t even want to.

What else do we know?

 Gravel produced the greatest presidential spot this side of the “Daisy” ad—and then he remade it this cycle.

Who is he?

 The Ohioan is a member of the House, representing Youngstown and America’s greatest city, Akron.

Is he running?

 Yes. Ryan announced his plan to run on The View on April 4.

Why does he want to run?

 Ryan is a classic Rust Belt Democrat and friend of labor, and he’s concerned about the fate of manufacturing. He is also an outspoken critic of Democratic leadership, mounting a quixotic challenge to Nancy Pelosi in 2017.

Who wants him to run?

 Ryan comes from a part of Ohio that traditionally votes Democratic but swung to Trump, and he’d have supporters there.

Can he win the nomination?

 Probably not. Members of the House seldom win the nomination; he’s got a small national profile.

What else do we know?

He’s big on meditation.

Who is she?

 Gillibrand has been a senator from New York since 2009, replacing Hillary Clinton. Before that, she served in the U.S. House.

Is she running?

 Yes. She launched her campaign officially on March 17.

Why does she want to run?

 Gillibrand has emphasized women’s issues, ranging from sexual harassment in the military and more recent #MeToo stories to equal pay, and her role as a mom is central in her announcement video. Once a fairly conservative Democrat, she has moved left in recent years.

Who wants her to run?

 Gillibrand could have fairly broad appeal among mainstream Democratic voters, and she hopes that her time representing upstate New York gives her an advantage with nonurban voters. She has, however, earned the enmity of the Clinton world for her criticisms of Bill.

Can she win the nomination?

 Perhaps. Her campaign hasn’t managed to gain much traction thus far.

What else do we know?

 Sometimes people say she’s a little boring, but do they realize she went on Desus & Mero?</s>DENVER — U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado jumped into the packed Democratic presidential primary on Thursday, announcing a 2020 campaign that had been stalled while he was treated for prostate cancer.

Bennet, a former head of Denver Public Schools who has carved out a reputation as a policy-oriented moderate, made his announcement on CBS’ “CBS This Morning,” saying the country faces two “enormous challenges,” among others: “One is the lack of economic mobility and opportunity for most Americans, and the other is the need to restore integrity to our government.”

“I think we need to do both of those things,” he said.

The son of a former ambassador to India and a Yale law school graduate who worked in the Clinton administration, Bennet worked for Republican billionaire Phil Anschutz when he moved to Colorado in the late 1990s. But when he re-entered public life, he did so as a Democrat, serving as chief of staff to then-Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. Hickenlooper went on to become Colorado governor and now is also competing for the Democratic presidential nomination .

The presence of two moderate Coloradans who started their political careers in Denver City Hall reflects how crowded the Democratic presidential field has become. Bennet’s understated style and distaste for the sound bites required in a political campaign have usually led to speculation that he’d seek a Cabinet position rather than try to become the next president. But he began moving to assemble a presidential bid late last year and planned an announcement in April. He had to pause after being diagnosed with prostate cancer this spring.

Bennet, 54, told Colorado journalist Mike Littwin that he’d resume the campaign if he was treated successfully but that he wanted to make a point by disclosing his medical condition.

“I don’t want to be hysterical, but if it was left in me undetected, it could kill me,” Bennet said. “It won’t because I have insurance and decent medical care. The idea that the richest country in the world hasn’t figured out how to have universal health care is beyond embarrassing. It’s devastating.”

Bennet has been a vocal opponent in the Democratic Party of the push for single-payer health care championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, another 2020 presidential candidate . Instead, Bennet proposes letting consumers buy into Medicare through insurance exchanges, arguing that that will be a more efficient and realistic path to universal coverage. Likewise, Bennet has pushed back against arguments by some other presidential hopefuls that Democrats should respond to Republican tactics by expanding the size of the Supreme Court, saying the party needs to avoid the same scorched-earth tactics that, he says, its main rival employs.

Despite his professorial reputation, Bennet has shown an ability to be a tough campaigner. Appointed in 2009, Bennet won his first election in 2010 by pounding his Republican rival for opposing abortion rights and comparing homosexuality to alcoholism, eking out a narrow win in an otherwise disastrous year for Bennet’s party. Four years later, Bennet chaired the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, a position that put him in contact with a network of national donors who also can help fund a presidential campaign.

Bennet gained internet fame this year when he blasted Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas for backing a bill to pay Coast Guard members during the partial government shutdown but not reopen the government. Bennet said Cruz once led a 16-day government shutdown in a failed bid to derail funding for the Affordable Care Act at a time when Colorado was experiencing catastrophic flooding, delaying relief efforts.

“When the senator from Texas shut this government down in 2013, my state was flooded,” Bennet shouted. “People were killed. People’s houses were destroyed. Their small businesses were destroyed, forever.”

Bennet accused Cruz of crying “crocodile tears” this time around.</s>Sen. Michael Bennet announced on Thursday that he is running for President, launching a longshot campaign that makes the Colorado Democrat the seventh member of the Senate vying for a chance to take on President Donald Trump.

The announcement — made Thursday during an interview on CBS' "This Morning" — was delayed after the senator was diagnosed with prostate cancer in early April. Bennet had surgery shortly after the diagnosis and announced last month that doctors gave him a clean bill of health. That successful procedure set off a series of moves over the last two weeks that culminated in Thursday's announcement.

Bennet, who now enters a crowded field of 2020 Democrats that is likely to grow, had previously said that he hoped to run despite the cancer diagnosis. He told CNN in early April that he would "like to get on with this."

"I'm looking forward to running in 2020," Bennet said on CNN's "State of the Union" with Jake Tapper. "This obviously was unexpected, but we caught it early. It's something that I think we're going to be able to treat and I don't think it should keep me off the trail."

Bennet, a measured, wonky Democrat who is known for delving deeply into policy, plans to run a campaign centered around driving economic growth by expanding the Child Tax Credit, enacting paid family and medical leave, raising the minimum wage, modernizing the country by combating climate change and investing in infrastructure, according to a Bennet aide.

The senator and former educator also plans to make education central to his bid, the aide said, as well as electoral reform, which will include pushing to ban Members of Congress from ever becoming lobbyists, overturning the controversial Citizens United Supreme Court decision and fighting partisan gerrymandering.

The senator, whose name recognition with audiences outside of Colorado remains small, was boosted by a viral moment earlier this year, when he took to the Senate floor to lambast Texas Sen. Ted Cruz with a passionate speech that saw the usually mild-mannered senator raising his voice to accuse Cruz of crying "crocodile tears" for lamenting a tactic Cruz once used himself.

The speech vaulted Bennet, the former superintendent of Denver Public Schools, into the public eye and captured the attention of Democratic activists.

That was clear earlier this year when Bennet made his first trip to Iowa. His first event in the state — a house party in Dubuque — was also a viewing party for the speech: as Bennet spoke in the host's living room, a freeze frame of an enraged Bennet sat on the TV behind him.

"I am glad you are not playing that now," Bennet joked to the small audience, "because I would say, 'God, I don't want to follow that guy.'"

Bennet has pitched himself in pre-campaign appearances and speeches as a pragmatic lawmaker who has a progressive voting record, but who also knows what it takes to win in an electorally split state like Colorado.

While some of Bennet's policy proposals do fall in line with progressives in his party, his view of "Medicare for All" — the sweeping health care plan being pushed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and a host of other 2020 candidates — is more centrist, a fact that the senator doesn't run away from.

"I'm concerned about that bill," he told CNN earlier this year, noting he worries the bill would do to employer-backed insurance plans that most Americans have. "I don't think that is a good starting point."

Bennet, 54, was born in India while his father — Douglas J. Bennet — worked as an aide to the U.S. ambassador to the country. Bennet grew up in Washington, D.C., as his father worked as an aide to President Jimmy Carter and a host of other jobs around the capital.

Bennet went on to graduate from Wesleyan University in 1987 and received a law degree from Yale Law School in 1993, where he was editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal.

After a brief legal career, Bennet became managing director of Anschutz Investment Corporation, a Denver-based holding company that has large investments in Anschutz Entertainment Group, The Regal Entertainment Group and a host of media companies.

Bennet entered public life in 2003 when he became then-Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's chief of staff. Hickenlooper, who would go on to become governor of Colorado and is a central figure in Bennet's public life, is also running for President.

After four years of superintendent of Denver Public Schools, then-Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter tapped Bennet to fill the Senate seat vacated by Ken Salazar, who became the Interior secretary under President Barack Obama. Bennet then successfully ran for his first full term in 2010 and was re-elected in 2016.

Bennet is expected to make his ability to win in a state like Colorado, where there is a healthy share of both Democrats and Republicans, central to his bid, too, arguing that that ability to win in a swing state bodes well for his ability to defeat Trump.</s>– Michael Bennet, the moderate, studious Democratic senator from Colorado known for his work on education and immigration reform, announced his candidacy for president Thursday.

He joins a field so packed with candidates that it now includes six of his colleagues in the Senate and his former boss, John Hickenlooper, a past governor of Colorado.

"I think this country faces two enormous challenges," he said in an interview on "CBS This Morning." "One is a lack of economic mobility and opportunity for most Americans and the other is the need to restore integrity to our government."

Until recently, Bennet, a former school superintendent usually known for his professorial reserve, was not considered a presidential contender.

But in an uncharacteristically fiery speech on the Senate floor in January, during a government shutdown, he excoriated his Republican colleague Ted Cruz of Texas, shouting repeatedly as he accused him of shedding "crocodile tears" over unpaid government workers. He denounced President Donald Trump for shutting down the government over his desired border wall, which Bennet termed a promise the president could not keep and one America did not want.

The speech was viewed millions of times online, widely aired on cable news and led to calls for Bennet, 54, to consider a presidential run.

"He revealed that he is capable of anger and passion," said former Sen. Gary Hart of Colorado, a longtime friend of Bennet's, who said the senator had come to him recently to discuss a possible campaign. "When it gets to be that blatant — the hypocrisy on the other side — you have no choice but to speak out."

Bennet now faces the challenge of setting himself apart in the Democratic field and competing against better-known candidates, some of whom have been laying the groundwork for their campaigns for months or years.

Among them is Hickenlooper, who once hired Bennet as his chief of staff.

"They are friends," said Hart. "They will be polite to each other. They're not going to go on background and stick a knife in one another."

Bennet was asked Thursday about the high number of Democrats running (he is the 21st to declare his candidacy). "This is the opportunity for us to show what we stand for, for us to have a competition of ideas," he said. "I think it's phenomenal that we've got as diverse an array of candidates as we have, in all respects, and that we've got the number that we have."</s>DENVER (AP) — U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado says he is seeking the Democratic nomination for president in 2020.

The three-term senator made the announcement Thursday on CBS’ “CBS This Morning.” He is now among more than 20 Democrats seeking the party’s presidential nomination.

The 54-year-old Bennet is a former head of the Denver school district who carved out a profile as a wonky, policy-oriented senator. He gained internet fame this year for a harsh scolding of Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas over the government shutdown.

Bennet was close to launching a presidential campaign after that but had to pause it after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Bennet’s office said last month that the senator was successfully treated. That cleared the way for Thursday’s launch.</s>WASHINGTON — Michael Bennet, who has served as a U.S. senator from Colorado since 2009, is the latest Democrat to join the crowded field of candidates in the 2020 presidential race.

“This country faces two enormous challenges, among others: One is a lack of economic mobility and opportunity for most Americans. The other is the need to restore integrity to our government,” Bennet said in an appearance on “CBS This Morning” on Thursday. “I think we need to do both of those things.”

In an announcement video, called “7,591 Words,” Bennet looks directly in the camera and says, “You probably don’t know me because I don’t go on cable news every night. I didn’t set out to be a politician.”

He says he wants to “fix healthcare and make good on what Obamacare promised,” although he said he favors a public option but that his plan was not Medicare for All. The latter has been embraced by a number of his rivals for the Democratic nomination.

Bennet is the 22nd Democrat to enter the race, a record number for a presidential field, and will face the challenge of raising money quickly. He already has been to Los Angeles to meet with potential donors and bundlers.

Bennet, 54, underwent surgery for prostate cancer earlier this year, but his office said that the treatment was “completely successful.”

Bennet’s brother, James, is the editorial page editor for the New York Times. The paper announced that he has recused himself from worked related to the 2020 election. “He will not discuss, assign or edit any editorials, op-eds, columns or other opinion pieces focused on candidates or major issues in the campaign,” the Times said in a statement on Thursday.</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, whose political career has centered on improving the American education system, on Thursday became the latest Democrat to join the sprawling field of candidates seeking the party’s 2020 presidential nomination.

“My plan is to run for president,” Bennet said during an interview with “CBS This Morning.”

Bennet, 54, is serving his second full six-year term in the Senate. He previously ran Denver’s public schools.</s>– Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet is the latest Democratic contender to enter the packed field of 2020 hopefuls, announcing on “CBS This Morning” on Thursday that he’s running for president.

“My plan is to run for president,” Bennet told “CBS This Morning” co-anchor John Dickerson. “I think this country faces two enormous challenges, one is a lack of economic mobility and opportunity for most Americans and the other is the need to restore integrity to our government.”

Bennet, 54, overcame a bout with prostrate cancer earlier this year. He was diagnosed in April and quickly underwent surgery, which his office said was “completely successful” and would require no further treatment. He told CBS his diagnosis was “incredibly clarifying”, saying he was disappointed at the possibility of never being able to run.

“That gave me a chance to think about whether I really wanted to run or not,” he said.

While he faces an uphill fundraising battle with his delayed entry into the already jam-packed field, Bennet is optimistic about his political future.

“I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t think I had a chance to win,” Bennet, the 22nd Democrat to enter the race, told The Colorado Independent shortly after his diagnosis. “I think, like everyone else does, it’s a long shot. But I think everyone in the field is a long shot.”

Asked about the packed field of challengers he now faces, Bennet told CBS that it’s “phenomenal we have an array of candidates that we have” calling it a “competition of ideas.”

“The Democratic party doesn’t stand for very much at the national level with respect to what the American people think,” argued Bennet. “A process like this is long overdue in the Democratic party.”

In a nearly 4-minute long campaign video released Thursday morning titled “7,591 words” (a nod to the word count of the U.S. Constitution) Bennet makes the case that “politics and governing aren’t the same thing.”

“When campaigning never stops, governing never begins,” he adds.

Bennet acknlowedged in his campaign appeal that while he may lack in national name recognition “because I don’t go on cable news everyday”, he came to Washington because he wants to “pay attention to what would help the people who sent me there make their lives better.”

“So you may not know me, but over the years I’ve learned a lot about what Americans struggle with.”

The senator refers to himself as a “pragmatic idealist”, looking to herald in a “new era of progress” for Washington.

Considered a relatively moderate Democrat, Bennet has represented Colorado in the U.S. Senate since 2009. Before entering politics, he spent seven years in the private sector where served as director of the Anschutz Investment Company. It was there that he managed the consolidation of three major movie chains into the Regal Entertainment Group.

In 2003, Bennet became the chief of staff to then-Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, who is also running for the Democratic presidential nomination. He left Hickenlooper’s office in 2005 to become superintendent of the Denver Public School system, where he helped pass a merit pay system for teachers. He was later appointed to fill the Senate seat vacated by Ken Salazar in 2009 and promptly re-elected the following year.

In a departure from his fellow Democratic contenders, Bennet, who supports creating a public option for health care while making private insurances available on Obamacare marketplaces, noted in his campaign rollout video that the answer to the nation’s health care woes does cannot be found in far-left policies like Medicare-for-All.

“I don’t think 180 million Americans want to give up the insurance they already have through their work or their union,” said Bennet.

Bennet was born in New Dehli while his father served as an aide to the U.S. Ambassador to India. His father then went on to take posts in the Carter and Clinton administrations, while his grandfather was an adviser to Franklin Roosevelt.</s>Senator Michael Bennet has jumped into the packed Democratic presidential primary, announcing a 2020 campaign that stalled while he was treated for prostate cancer.

Senator Michael Bennet has jumped into the packed Democratic presidential primary, announcing a 2020 campaign that stalled while he was treated for prostate cancer.

Mr Bennet, 54, who has carved out a reputation as a policy-oriented moderate, made his announcement on the CBS This Morning show.

The son of a former ambassador to India and a Yale law school graduate who worked in the Clinton administration, Mr Bennet worked for Republican billionaire Phil Anschutz when he moved to Colorado in the late 1990s.

But he re-entered public life as a Democrat, serving as chief of staff to then Denver mayor John Hickenlooper.

Mr Hickenlooper, who went on to become Colorado governor, is now also competing for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The presence of two moderates who started their political careers in Denver City Hall reflects how crowded the Democratic presidential field has become.

Mr Bennet’s understated style and distaste for sound bites have usually led to speculation that he would seek a Cabinet position rather than try to become the next president.

But he began moving to assemble a presidential bid late last year and planned an announcement in April. He had to pause after being diagnosed with prostate cancer this spring.

Mr Bennet has been a vocal opponent in the Democratic Party of the push for single-payer health care championed by Senator Bernie Sanders, another 2020 presidential candidate.

Instead, Mr Bennet proposes letting consumers buy into Medicare through insurance exchanges, arguing this would be a more efficient and realistic path to universal coverage.

Likewise, Mr Bennet has pushed back against arguments by some other presidential hopefuls that Democrats should respond to Republican tactics by expanding the size of the Supreme Court, saying the party needed to avoid the same scorched-earth tactics that, he said, its main rival employed.

Despite his professorial reputation, Mr Bennet has shown an ability to be a tough campaigner.

Appointed in 2009, Mr Bennet won his first election in 2010 by pounding his Republican rival for opposing abortion rights and comparing homosexuality to alcoholism, eking out a narrow win in an otherwise disastrous year for Mr Bennet’s party.

Four years later, Mr Bennet chaired the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, a position that put him in contact with a network of national donors who could also help fund a presidential campaign.

Mr Bennet gained internet fame this year when he blasted Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas for backing a bill to pay Coast Guard members during the partial government shutdown but not reopen the government.

Mr Bennet said Mr Cruz once led a 16-day government shutdown in a failed bid to derail funding for the Affordable Care Act at a time when Colorado was experiencing catastrophic flooding, delaying relief efforts.

“When the senator from Texas shut this government down in 2013, my state was flooded,” Mr Bennet shouted.

“People were killed. People’s houses were destroyed. Their small businesses were destroyed, forever.”

Mr Bennet accused Mr Cruz of crying “crocodile tears” this time around.
U.S. Senator Michael Bennet from Colorado announces he is running for the Democratic Party's nomination to be President of the United States in the 2020 presidential election.