Washington, January 12: Tulsi Gabbard, the Hindu lawmaker from Hawaii, has confirmed herself in the fray for 2020 presidential run. The Iraq war veteran is the arguably the tallest name among the Democrats to have officially declared their intent to run in the primaries, scheduled to begin from February. She has also announced Rania Batrice, a former aide of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, as her campaign manager.

Gabbard confirmed her poll plans on "The Van Jones Show", which has been pre-recorded on CNN. The program will air on the network at 7pm (US eastern zone time) on Saturday.

"There are a lot of reasons for me to make this decision. There are a lot of challenges that are facing the American people that I'm concerned about and that I want to help solve," she was reported as saying at the talk show.

Facts to Know About Tulsi Gabbard:

- Gabbard was born on April 12, 1981, to a Samoan Christian father and a Hindu Caucasian mother of European descent. She was fourth of the couple's five children.

- In 2002, at the age of 21, she became the youngest member to be elected in the Hawaii House of Representatives. A year later, she volunteered to serve as a doctor for the Hawaii National Army Guard, which was deployed in Iraq to battle Saddam Hussain's forces. She was enlisted as an on-field doctor, and remained in Iraq for the next couple of years.

- Gabbard's stay in Iraq turned her critical of US' foreign policy in the Middle East. She vocally dissented against further military interventions, and came on record to oppose Washington's bid to overthrow embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

- Until 2009, Gabbard had only a homeschool background. She attained her official degree that year from Hawaii Pacific University, where she graduated in Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

- In 2011, she made her way back into electoral politics, being elected as a member of the Honolulu City Council. In 2012, she successfully contested in the midterm polls for the Hawaii seat in the US House of Representatives.

- Gabbard was also appointed as the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The post was relinquished by her in 2016 after she refused to approve the nomination of Hillary Clinton as the party's presidential candidate.

All eyes are on set on how Gabbad performs in the primaries -- the first of which is scheduled to kick off from the  Iowa Caucuses on February 3, 2020, followed by the New Hampshire Primary on February 11, Nevada caucus of February 15 and South Carolina on February 22. Bernie Sanders, who had influenced Gabbard in his last bid for the White House, is also considering to enter the primaries.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 12, 2019 05:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).