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Auditions for 2020 Democratic presidential candidates appear to be in full swing not four months into the Trump administration -- with the typical cast of governors and senators positioning themselves while party elders appear to step back.

Among them, former Vice President Joe Biden has denied plans to run after giving mixed signals.

Guys, I am not running, Biden said last weekend at a sold-out New Hampshire Democratic fundraiser.

The 74-year-old Biden -- who has a colorful history keeping his political story alive -- made the announcement after gleefully telling reporters days after Donald Trumps stunning November 2016 win over Democrats: "I am going to run in 2020. What the hell man."

Even the shortlist of Democratic senators potentially eyeing the job is long, with Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota being mentioned.

Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, who ran for president last year as a Democrat, continues to stay on the national stage. But he would be 79 in 2020.

Warren and Franken, in particular, took advantage of the recently televised Senate confirmation hearings on Trump appointees to increase their national profile with tough-talking soundbites.

It's going to be open season, Douglas Smith, a managing partner at Kent Strategies who worked on campaigns for Al Gore and both Clintons, told Fox News on Tuesday. Elizabeth Warren started running six weeks before Hillary Clinton lost.

Another potential prospect, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, on Monday appeared to take herself out of the mix, telling cable Spectrum News: I'm focused entirely on running for Senate, so yes, I'm ruling it out."

With real estate magnate and former reality TV host Trump winning as a first-time candidate, a few names from the entertainment and entrepreneurial worlds also have voiced interest.

Among them are Kanye West, the rapper-producer who first announced his 2020 interests in a 2015 MTV awards show and more recently in an August 2016 BBC interview.

When I've talked about the idea of being president, I'm not saying I have any political views, he said in the interview. I don't have views on politics. I just have a view on humanity, on people, on the truth.

Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and Shark Tank host, has become the face under the familiar headline, Wont rule out a presidential run.

The 58-year-old Cuban has for years toyed with the idea, last month telling Five Thirty Eights Nate Silver, Ill get back to you on that, then telling The Washington Post he had no interest but at the same time, sometimes you got to do what you got to do.

Cuban has hinted about running as either a Democrat or Republican, but campaigned with Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee, and has criticized former friend Trump and his policies.

I know Mark Cuban well, Trump responded once on Twitter. He backed me big-time, but I wasn't interested in taking all of his calls. He's not smart enough to run for president!

Clintons daughter, Chelsea, has also been briefly mentioned as a long-shot candidate.

David Payne, a Republican strategist and president of Codavate, told Fox News on Tuesday that voters in presidential elections historically vote to one extreme, then the other, with Trump in 2016 being the year of the wildcard or at least of the anti-establishment candidate.

In politics, the pendulum never stops in the middle, he said. Polls show those who voted for President Trump are largely happy with their pick, which might lead us to believe there are some more openings at least in 2018 in the House and Senate. But its too early to know about 2020.

The potential field also includes a list of high-profile governors including Colorados John Hickenlooper, New Yorks Andrew Cuomo and Virginias Terry McAuliffe, a former Democratic National Committee leader and prolific fundraiser whose trade mission this week to Mexico has renewed talk about a potential run.

He has a record [of governing] and can raise lots of money, Smith said. But hell also have to run past being too tied to Clinton Inc.

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Biden balks, Kirsten walks but 2020 Democratic field taking shape - Fox News

New OMB Director Mick Mulvaneys old 5th District, which takes in populous suburbs of Charlotte and stretches south, is not prime territory for Democrats. | M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO

The Republican primary for Mick Mulvaneys old House seat will go another two weeks after the candidates forced a special-election runoff Tuesday night, giving Democrat Archie Parnell a head start in his long-shot bid to make a conservative stretch of South Carolina competitive.

Parnell, a former Goldman Sachs tax expert, cruised through the Democratic primary with about three-quarters of the vote while state Rep. Tommy Pope and former state legislator Ralph Norman advanced to a runoff on the GOP side, since no one got a majority of the vote. Pope had 31 percent and Norman 30 percent in the crowded field when the Associated Press called the runoff Tuesday night.

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Pope and Normans runoff will be in two weeks, on May 16. The general election is June 20, the same day as a closely-watched special election to replace Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price in his old Georgia district.

Mulvaneys old 5th District, which takes in populous suburbs of Charlotte and stretches south through rural areas to the outskirts of Columbia, is not prime territory for Democrats: President Donald Trump carried it with 57 percent of the vote in 2016 as Mulvaney, now the director of the Office of Management and Budget, also won easily. The district does not have a big urban center or recent history of supporting Democrats down-ballot since Mulvaney knocked longtime Democratic Rep. John Spratt out of Congress in 2010.

But Democrats note that any gap in voter enthusiasm could impact a deep-red district as it did in Kansas in April, where a sleepy special election briefly troubled Republicans who worried their voters were not engaged. The swing that happened in Kansas, if that happens here, we win, Parnell said.

Parnell has a net worth in the millions, which he could use to pay for TV advertising in the special general election. In an interview before the election, Parnell didnt deny he could put more of his own money into the contest.

Yet outgoing South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Matt Moore said that the party primary should engage Republicans in the district in a way they werent engaged in Kansas or Montanas upcoming special election, where party leaders picked the candidates. I will eat my shoes if a Democrat wins South Carolinas 5th District, Moore said.

Before someone can take on Parnell one-on-one, its possible that national Republican groups will turn their attention to the runoff between Pope a former prosecutor-turned-state legislative leader who earned national press attention for prosecuting a woman for drowning her two children and Norman, a real estate developer and legislative hardliner who became famous for being on the wrong side of 124-1 votes in the state House.

Norman has said he would gladly join the House Freedom Caucus, and could receive the backing of the conservative Club for Growth. Business-oriented groups are more likely to back Pope, who has already received a donation from the corporate PAC of Boeing, a major employer in South Carolina.

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Democrat gets head start in deep-red special election to replace Mulvaney - Politico

KINGSTON, N.Y. >> Cassandra Burke has launched a bid for the Common Councils Eighth Ward seat.

Burke, of 117 Rondout Drive, says she will seek the Democratic line in the November election. The Eighth Ward seat currently is held by Steve Schabot, also a Democrat.

Burke, who has never held elected office, said in a press release that she has lived in Kingston for five years and is excited about running.

I have made this decision because, as a mother of three children and a longtime resident of the city, I see so much potential in Kingston for us and our future generations, and I want to help nurture that potential.

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Burke is a former member of the citys Human Rights Commission and a current member of the Community Development Advisory Board.

The Common Council seats in all nine city wards are up for election in November. Council members serve two-year terms.

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Democrat launches bid for Eighth Ward seat - The Daily Freeman

A markup of a Republican financial reform bill quickly ran off the rails Tuesday when a Democrat called the legislation a middle finger to the public.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York called the Republican bill a "591-page middle finger to consumers, investors, regulators and markets," upsetting the Republican members of the House Financial Services Commitee trying to approve the bill and send it to the House floor.

Maloney's remarks were just one example of the heated rhetoric that ensued after committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling kicked off the hearing, which he warned could last late into the night.

Maloney also called the measure in question, the Financial Choice Act, "immoral" and "disturbing." Rep. Maxine Waters of California, the top Democrat on the panel, described it as "one of the worst bills I've seen." Another Democrat compared Republicans to Benedict Arnold.

The Choice Act would replace large parts of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law signed by former President Barack Obama to increase oversight of financial markets. The centerpiece of the sweeping legislative package would be to allow banks to opt out of many of the new rules if they maintained high levels of capital.

Many provisions of the bill, advertised as a measure to boost lending and growth, have support from the banking industry. Democrats have argued that it would undo the rules meant to prevent another financial crisis.

Responding to the Democrats' opening rhetoric, Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga of Michigan turned directly to the cameras in the committee room to warn the public that they were witnessing hyperbole on "Barnum and Bailey kind of levels."

"What is the real middle finger to the American people is the lack of a recovery that we have had because of Dodd-Frank," Huizenga said.

In a sign of the contentious atmosphere at the markup, Democrats sought to have Huizenga reprimanded for addressing the public, rather than directing his remarks to the chairman of the committee. The chairman, however, said that his fellow Republican hadn't broken any rules.

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Democrat upsets GOP by calling banking bill a 'middle finger' - Washington Examiner

Thom Kleiner announced Sunday that he will run as the Democratic candidate in November's race for Orangetown town supervisor. Video by Gabriel Rom/lohud. Wochit

Thom Kleiner announced Sunday that he will run as the Democratic candidate in November for Orangetown supervisor.(Photo: Gabriel Rom/The Journal News)Buy Photo

ORANGETOWN - Thom Kleinerannounced Sunday that he will run as the Democratic candidate in November's race for Orangetown town supervisor.

Kleinerserved in the position from 1996 to 2009.

"Town problems will not be solved by rigid political ideologies," Kleiner tolda crowd of over 100 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Blauvelt.

ORANGETOWN: Supervisor won't seek re-election in 2017

Republican Chris Day enters Orangetown supervisor race

Kleiner will face off againstChris Day, son of Rockland County Executive Ed Day, who announced his candidacy for supervisor in January.

Thom Kleiner announced Sunday that he will run as the Democratic candidate in November for Orangetown supervisor.(Photo: Gabriel Rom/The Journal News)

The current Democratic supervisor, Andy Stewart,leads aboard with a majority ofRepublicans: Councilmen Paul Valentine, Thomas Diviny and Denis Troy. Councilman Gerald "Gerry" Bottari is the only other Democrat on the board.

Kleiner pledged that he would continue the policies of Stewart, who announced in Augustthat he would not run for re-election.

"As we begin this journey,Orangetownis thriving and wehave Andy Stewart to thank for that," Kleiner said.

Kleiner said that keeping the town under the state property tax capand protecting the town from over-development would be two focal points of his administration. He also highlighted rapid developmentin neighboring communities as a challenge facing Orangetown.

"Just because there is no state of emergencyin Orangetown doesn't mean there aren't any threats," he said. "Those living outside the town of Ramapo can't have any security thatwhat is happening there will not spill over into other communities. This issue unites all of us, Democrats, Republicans and Independents."

A slew of local and state officials attended the announcement, including state AssemblywomanEllen Jaffee, D-Suffern; AssemblymanDavid Buchwald, D-White Plains;and AssemblymanKen Zebrowski, D-New City, among others.

Kleiner connected a rise of national grassroots activism after the election of President Donald Trump to his campaign and said he would fight to restore "common decency and common sense".

Before becoming supervisor, Kleiner worked inconsumer protection positions for New York City. In 2009 he unsuccessfully ran for Rockland County executive. Over the last eight years, he has served in senior roles at the state Department of Labor and the Mid-Hudson Regional Economical Development Council.

Twitter: @GabrielRom1

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Democrat Thom Kleiner enters Orangetown supervisor race - The Journal News | LoHud.com