The 2020 presidential campaign of Joe Biden began on April 25, 2019, when Biden released a video announcing his candidacy in the 2020 Democratic party presidential primaries. Joe Biden, the former vice president of the United States and a former U.S. senator from Delaware, had been the subject of widespread speculation as a potential 2020 candidate after declining to be a candidate in the 2016 election. As a former vice president, Biden entered the race with very high name recognition. From his campaign announcement until late September, he was generally considered the front runner of the race and led the national primary in most major polls.