At least five of the candidates vying for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination will be appearing in a first-of-its-kind forum later this month. Vermont Senator, Bernie Sanders, author, Marianne Williamson, Montana Gov., Steve Bullock, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Julian Castro, and former U.S. Representative, John Delaney, will be taking part in the Frank LaMere Presidential Candidate Forum that will focus entirely on concerns of Native Americans. The Aug. 19 and Aug. 20 event will be held in Sioux City at the Orpheum Theatre and is named in honor of a Native American rights activist from Sioux City who died in June. Four Directions, the nation’s preeminent Native voter engagement organization, is sponsoring and hosting the forum and a majority of the country’s major Native American organizations have signed on as co-hosts. More candidates are expected to sign up for participation, and Four Directions Co-Executive Director, O.J. Semans, says voter turnout in “Indian Country” is dramatically increasing. “In a contested primary and a general election that’s likely to be close, there are several states where Native American voters can provide a winning margin,” Semans says.
