Marianne Williamson is running against Biden in the Democratic primary. What's her story?

Barring extraordinary circumstances, President Joe Biden will secure the Democratic presidential nomination in 2024. As for second place, Marianne Williamson is neck-and-neck with fellow candidate Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota - the only two non-incumbent Democrats still in the running for the White House.

While Williamson received fewer votes than Biden and Phillips in the recent New Hampshire primary on Jan. 23, she garnered 4% of the votes, a significant increase compared to her 2020 margin.

Williamson, 71, a self-help author and Oprah’s former spiritual leader, launched her White House bid in March 2023 after unsuccessfully running for president in 2020. She told the USA TODAY Network that she is campaigning to change an “unsustainable status quo” she believes is hurting the middle class and creating hopelessness for the American people.

In 1998, she founded Project Angel Food, a nonprofit that provides free meals to Los Angeles residents who are too sick to shop and cook for themselves. She also co-founded the Peace Alliance in 2004, which aims to “mobilize people into action to transform systems and public policy toward a culture of peace.”

More on Williamson's campaign: Student debt, reparations and the environment: Marianne Williamson campaigns to end 'status quo'

Williamson’s views on key issues

Climate change

Williamson has warned that the nation’s biggest crisis surrounding climate change is “humanity’s massive state of denial that it exists on the scale it does.” As president, the author would enact a full-scale effort to reach 100% renewable energy in the U.S. and lower carbon emissions by 2035. She has also called for halting all new fossil fuel subsidies and instead investing that money into wind and solar energy, among other energy initiatives. Williamson has said she will ban all fracking operations in the U.S. and prioritize training workers to move from traditional energy sectors to new ones.

Crime & policing

The author and spiritual leader has called America’s longstanding efforts to fight crime ineffective. Instead, she proposes what she calls a holistic approach to address the underlying causes of crime. Williamson has called culture and education “the strongest preventative medicines” for American communities. As president, she would fund and increase the number of social workers, create “wraparound” programs to provide healthcare and other services for children and fund efforts for law enforcement officials to repair relationships with their communities.

Education

Williamson has called for free tuition for public college students, including community colleges, four-year colleges and universities, and historically Black colleges and universities. She has also called for free trade school tuition for certain professions, such as carpenters and plumbers. As president, the author would also forgive all federal and private student debt. She also says she would end “high stakes” testing for students in a push to “return to teachers the opportunity to practice the art of teaching.”

Economy

Williamson has proposed an economic bill of rights for Americans, including the “right to a job that pays a living wage,” “the right to good, affordable housing,” and other guarantees. Williamson has also called for setting a nationwide goal of eradicating poverty and expanding social safety net programs for low-income people. She has proposed increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour and closing tax loopholes for large corporations, and she includes investments in care programs, drug pricing, and other common costs as part of her economic platform.

Foreign policy

Williamson has called for creating a U.S. Department of Peace, which would support efforts to end conflicts, coordinate humanitarian assistance and create a U.S. Peace Academy working with the U.S. Military Academy. She has vowed to increase the budget for the State Department’s peace efforts. She has also proposed launching a 10- to 20-year plan for “turning a wartime economy into a peace-time economy,” which would involve shifting current investments to building schools, infrastructure and more.

Health care

Williamson supports a Medicare for All-type health care system, a universal plan for Americans that would replace coverage from private health insurance companies. If elected president, she would push for lower prescription drug prices by pursuing negotiations with drug companies. But Williamson has also called for a “Whole Health Plan,” in which the country would prioritize health and wellness initiatives across the board. That includes promoting healthy nutrition, encouraging exercise and activity and addressing air and water pollution.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Marianne Williams 2024? Inside her longshot bid for the White House