By Arya Hodjat | ahodjat@alextimes.com

City resident Joe Sestak, a former Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania, announced Sunday that he was running for president.

Sestak joins a crowded field, becoming the 25th major Democratic candidate vying to unseat President Trump in the 2020 election. According to the New York Times, Sestak announced his bid relatively late because his daughter was battling brain cancer, but has since beaten it.

“Our country desperately needs a president with a depth of global experience and an understanding of all the elements of our nation’s power,” he said in a video posted on his campaign website.

Sestak served in the Navy for more than 30 years. He was a three-star admiral, the highest-ranking member of the military ever elected to Congress at the time of his election, according to the New York Times.

While Sestak joined the race too late to participate in this week’s first Democratic debates, he hopes to qualify for the next round in July. Among the policies listed in his campaign platform are improving American infrastructure and rejoining the Iran nuclear deal and Paris Climate Accords.

“As president, I will need all of you to help answer the call for America’s leadership to restore a just world order so it serves us by raising our collective good, here at home,” he said in the video.