The article profiles several challengers including Filipino Senator Leila de Lima, University of Oxford professors Alexander Betts and Paul Collier, and Ethiopian Olympic runner Feyisa Lilesa. De Lima, as chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, led an investigation into the extrajudicial killings of alleged drug traffickers, dealers and users in the Philippines as part of President Rodrigo Duterte's brutal war on drugs. Betts and Collier proposed to shift refugees to Jordan where they can be provided with jobs and education in special economic zones (SEZs). Lilesa staged an anti-protest in the Olympic Games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil by crossing his arms over his head to show solidary with his Oromo tribe.