Editor’s note: the following is from a speech given by King County Executive Dow Constantine at a rally in Seattle Feb. 1

Last night, I was honored to stand with Washington State Democrats of all stripes in calling on Howard Schultz to stop toying with the idea of running a third-party presidential campaign. Together, we made our voices heard and shined a light on the fact that a Schultz candidacy would only hurt the Democratic Party and help re-elect Donald Trump in 2020.

We already have a diverse field of Democratic candidates who are vying for their chance to send Trump packing in 2020. If Schultz truly wants Trump out, and he wants to bring a perspective he doesn't think is represented in the current Democratic field, he should run as a Democrat, not as a third-party spoiler.

There's too much at stake in 2020 to risk handing Donald Trump four more years in the other Washington. We could see the end of safe, legal abortion, climate change will continue to devastate our environment, and Republicans are bound to continue their crusade to reverse the Affordable Care Act.

As Democrats, it's up to us to make sure we're making our voices heard, and that starts with committing to stand up against any third-party candidate who would take away votes from a qualified, progressive Democratic nominee.

We already showed up once, but I suspect the last night's protest was only the beginning. Everyone remembers 2000, Ralph Nader, and the disaster of electing Bush/Cheney. Everyone remembers 2016 Jill Stein, and the disaster of electing Trump/Pence. We need to band together and tell Howard Schultz that he must not be remembered as the one responsible for re-electing Donald Trump -- the worst president in U.S. history.