20 things you didn’t know about the Democratic candidates debating this week
Twenty Democratic presidential candidates will take the debate stage in Detroit this week. Here is something you may not know about each of them.
Michael Bennet
Michael Bennet was born in New Delhi, India. His father, Douglas Bennet, was working as an aide to the US ambassador at the time.
Joe Biden
Joe Biden loves Corvettes and still has a 1967 green Corvette Stingray his father gave him as a wedding present. In 2016, he drag raced his Corvette against former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s 2015 Corvette Stingray Z51 for an episode of “Jay Leno’s Garage.”
Bill de Blasio
Bill de Blasio hasn’t always been Bill de Blasio. He was born Warren Wilhelm Jr. and changed his name twice. Once in 1983 to Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm, and then once more in 2002 to Bill de Blasio.
Cory Booker
Cory Booker, a Baptist, was co-president of L’Chaim Society, a Jewish group, at Oxford; he later co-founded a Jewish group at Yale Law.
Steve Bullock
Long before he became governor, Steve Bullock used to deliver newspapers down the street from the governor's office in Helena, Montana, when he was a child.
Pete Buttigieg
Pete Buttigieg plays the piano, guitar and several instruments including the Didgeridoo – a long wooden trumpet believed to have originated by Indigenous Australians in northern Australia.
Julián Castro
Julián Castro was a sports fan and participant as a kid. He collected trading cards and played tennis in high school.
John Delaney
John Delaney knows his way around a gym. He swims, lifts weights and is one of the most in shape candidates in the field, which became clear when he and his rivals wore T-shirts at the Clyburn Fish Fry in South Carolina earlier this summer.
Tulsi Gabbard
Tulsi Gabbard is a “goofy-footed” surfer, which means she surfs with her right foot forward (most people surf with their left foot forward, or “regular” stance).
Kirsten Gillibrand
At Dartmouth College in the 1980s, Kirsten Gillibrand shared a room with actress Connie Britton during a study abroad program in Beijing. Britton has endorsed Gillibrand’s presidential campaign.
Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris wears a gold bracelet on her right wrist with a lotus embossed on it. “Kamala” is a Sanskrit word meaning lotus, a sacred flower in Eastern cultures.
John Hickenlooper
John Hickenlooper likes beer. He might not be in politics without it. He became politically active after opening a craft brewery in an abandoned downtown area now known as LoDo. His rise to Denver mayor started there.
Jay Inslee
For the last 10 years, Jay Inslee has written and illustrated one children's book a year for his three grandkids. A number of the books focus on nature, the climate and the effects the warming Earth has on the environment.
Amy Klobuchar
Amy Klobuchar has said she raised $17,000 for her first campaign for US Senate in 2006 from ex-boyfriends.
Beto O’Rourke
One summer in the 1990s, Beto O'Rourke rented an ice cream truck in Albuquerque and sold treats.
Tim Ryan
Tim Ryan practices hot yoga and meditation and is the author of the 2012 book “A Mindful Nation: How a Simple Practice Can Help Us Reduce Stress, Improve Performance, and Recapture the American Spirit.”
Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders traces his endurance on the campaign trail back to this youth: He was a star runner, serving as the co-captain of his high school cross country team.
Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Warren does not drink coffee -- she gets her caffeine from tea, instead (black iced tea with extra ice).
