The presidential race for 2024 is heating up by the week, as new contenders enter and others withdraw.
So far, four Republicans have begun campaigns for the party’s nomination, and President Biden formally opened his reelection effort with a video aired on April 25, four years after entering the race in 2020.
The field of Republican presidential candidates is anticipated to swell as campaign season heats up, but with the first presidential primary almost a year away, a lot can change before voters go to the polls.
Here is the current field of candidates as well as those that may run.
President Biden
“When I ran for president four years ago, I said we were in a battle for the soul of America — and we still are,” Trump said in the three-minute video. “The question is whether we will have more freedom or less freedom, more rights or fewer rights in the coming years.” I know what the response should be. This is not the time to be smug. That is why I am seeking reelection.”
Mr. Biden attempted to differentiate his administration’s policy positions from those of his political opponents by using footage of the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the United States Capitol and pro-abortion rights protesters outside the Supreme Court, as well as images of Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, former President Donald Trump, and Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“Around the country, MAGA extremists are lining up to take those bedrock freedoms away,” Mr. Biden warned. “Cutting your entire life’s worth of social security while cutting taxes for the very wealthy.” Women’s healthcare decisions are being dictated, books are being banned, and individuals are being told who they may love. All the while making it more difficult for you to vote.”
According to the president, it is time for Americans to “defend democracy, stand up for our personal freedoms, stand up for the right to vote, and stand up for our civil rights.”
“Let’s finish this job, I know we can,” he continued, “because this is America.” And there’s nothing we can’t do if we work together.”
Mr. Biden’s reelection announcement had been expected for months, but the date had slipped from January to February and then to April.
Mr. Biden’s declaration comes as a special counsel investigates confidential materials discovered at his old workplace at a think tank and his home in Wilmington, Delaware.
Republican presidential candidates for 2024
Donald Trump
Trump was the first contender to publicly declare his candidature for president in 2024, commencing his campaign in a November address from his South Florida club, Mar-a-Lago.
Trump has spent little time on the campaign road since then but has increased his travel in recent weeks with visits to Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two states on the Republican primary calendar.
Trump, widely regarded as the early leader for the Republican presidential nomination, made the keynote presentation at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on March 4 after topping the straw poll of participants.
While Trump remains popular among the Republican Party, his legal problems cast a shadow over his candidature. When Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted him on charges linked to a “hush money” payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in March, he became the first ex-president to be charged with a felony.
Trump was held guilty on May 9 in a legal action filed by writer E. Jean Carroll, who claimed Trump raped her in a department store changing room in the 1990s and defamed her when she came out some years ago. He, too, disputed the charges. The jury did not find him guilty of raping Carroll, but it did find him guilty of sexually abusing her and ordered him to pay her $5 million.
The standard of proof necessary to find someone accountable in a civil action is lower than that required to gain a criminal conviction, and it does not qualify as a criminal record.
In addition to two Justice Department investigations led by special counsel Jack Smith — one into his handling of classified documents discovered at Mar-a-Lago, and the other into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election — a local prosecutors’ investigation in Fulton County, Georgia, is ongoing.
Nonetheless, Trump assured reporters at CPAC that an indictment would not prevent him from running for president.
“I wouldn’t even think about leaving,” the former president responded when asked if he would continue in the race if he was prosecuted.
Nikki Haley
Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations entered the Republican presidential nomination campaign in mid-February, becoming Trump’s first opponent.
Haley, 51, has positioned herself as part of a new generation of Republican leadership in her campaign and has advocated for mandatory mental health tests for legislators over the age of 75, a veiled swipe at Trump, 76, and Mr. Biden, 80.
Haley was born in Bamberg, South Carolina, the daughter of Indian immigrants, and spent two terms as governor. She served as the United States senior diplomat to the United Nations from January 2017 until December 2018.
Vivek Ramaswamy
Ramaswamy, a former biotech executive, is seen as a longshot for the Republican nomination, although he is just the third Republican to enter the campaign so far.
Ramaswamy, who is 37 years old and has a net worth of around $600 million, has labeled himself an “anti-woke” capitalist and has criticized corporate investment based on environmental, social, and governance grounds.
Ramaswamy is a Cincinnati native with links to Sen. J.D. Vance and prominent GOP supporter Peter Thiel.
Larry Elder
Larry Elder, a conservative talk radio broadcaster, ran for governor of California in the 2021 recall election. The recall campaign was unsuccessful, and Gov. Gavin Newsom retained his position, although Elder garnered the most votes – over 3.6 million — out of a big field of candidates seeking to replace Newsom.
Elder declared his presidential campaign last week on Fox News.
Asa Hutchinson
Hutchinson, the former governor of Arkansas, became the fourth Republican to declare his candidature for president in 2024 on April 2.
Hutchinson, 72, was governor for two terms, from 2015 until 2023. He served as one of the House impeachment managers during President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial.
He has stated his opposition to Trump’s third bid for the presidency, calling a Trump nomination in 2024 the “worst scenario.”
Democratic presidential candidates in 2024
Marianne Williamson
Williamson is the first Democrat to publicly launch her candidature, amid signs that the president would seek re-election.
Williamson’s decision to run places her as the first primary contender to Mr. Biden, but she is unlikely to win the Democratic nominee.
Williamson, 70, is an author and spiritual counselor who ran for the Democratic candidature in 2020 but fell short in a crowded field. After stepping out of the contest, she backed Andrew Yang in the Iowa caucuses.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is an anti-vaccine activist and the scion of one of the country’s most recognized political dynasties. On April 5, he submitted a statement of candidature to the Federal Election Commission.
The 69-year-old’s bid to unseat current Vice President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination is a long shot.
However, more than 15 years ago, he got hooked on the concept that vaccinations are unsafe and emerged as one of the major voices in the anti-vaccine movement, and his work has been branded as misleading and hazardous by public health professionals — and even members of his own family.
His anti-vaccine activities accelerated following the COVID-19 pandemic and the creation of the COVID-19 vaccine, and during the pandemic, his anti-vaccine foundation saw income “triple” to $6.8 million, according to charity records.
In 2021, Kennedy published “The Real Anthony Fauci,” in which he accused the United States’ top infectious disease doctor of assisting in “a historic coup d’etat against Western democracy” and promoted unproven COVID-19 treatments such as ivermectin, a parasite treatment, and the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine.
Republicans who have not yet entered the presidential election in 2024
Ron DeSantis
DeSantis has also been involved in education, revising Florida’s public education systems and running for local school board seats in the 2022 election cycle.
His actions as governor earned him favor with Republican voters, and while he hasn’t begun a campaign, DeSantis plans to promote his new book in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, another early-voting state.
Mike Pence
The former vice president and Indiana governor has hinted at a presidential run and stated that he will make a decision on his political future by the spring. Pence, on the other hand, has stated that the GOP should move on from Trump.
“I think we’re going to have new leadership in this party and in this country,” he said to CBS News in January.
Pence has also refused to commit to backing Trump if he becomes the Republican nominee, instead stating that he believes GOP supporters would vote “wisely again” in 2024 and that “different times call for different leadership.”
While Pence has supported Trump administration initiatives, he has also criticized Trump for his conduct on Jan. 6, stating in November that Trump’s statements were “reckless” and endangered him and his family, who were on Capitol Hill that day for the joint session of Congress.
Tim Scott
In April, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott formally announced an exploratory committee for a presidential run in 2024, vowing in a video that he will “never back down in defense of the conservative values that make America exceptional.” And it is for this reason that I am declaring my exploratory committee for President of the United States.”
He’s banking on the popularity of his optimistic outlook for the country. “I see that America is starving for positive, optimistic leadership,” Scott said after announcing the formation of this exploratory committee to CBS News political correspondent Huey-Burns. “I want to provide that alternative to the American people, not to any specific candidate.”
“The difference between me and others, I believe, is that my focus is on the fact that I used to be a kid who didn’t see a future,” Scott went on to say. “I used to be a youngster who was upset with the cards that were handed to me. I was blessed with a mother who never gave up.
If we can unify this country behind answers, concentrating more on those solutions than anything else, it is my only way ahead, and it is the one I have chosen.”
In his interview with Huey-Burns, he also failed to commit to supporting Trump if he wins the Republican nominee.
Scott, the sole African-American Republican senator, has been touring early-voting states. According to Axios, he has hired former Republican Sen. Cory Gardner and a seasoned GOP insider to manage his super PAC Opportunity Matters.
Chris Sununu
Sununu, the governor of New Hampshire, has been outspoken in his criticism of Trump, and he gave a preview of his appeal to voters in an appearance with “Face the Nation” last month, in which he championed a “New Hampshire model” of leadership.
The American people, according to Sununu, are “tired of extreme candidates” and party deadlock.
Sununu chose against running for the Senate in 2021 to fight first-term Democrat Maggie Hassan, instead opting to compete for a fourth term as governor, which he won in November.
Glenn Youngkin
There has been talk over whether Virginia Governor Mark Youngkin may run for President in 2024. Youngkin said “no” when asked if he will return to the campaign trail this year during an event organized by the Milken Institute.
“I’m going to be working in Virginia this year,” he said, adding that he hasn’t traveled to Iowa and hasn’t written a book, in contrast to other GOP leaders who may be interested in running for president.
Youngkin’s spokesman confirmed to NBC News that the governor answered a query regarding his intentions for this year, 2023, rather than 2024.
Who will not be running in 2024?
Larry Hogan
After “serious consideration,” the former Maryland governor declared on Sunday that he will not pursue the Republican presidential nomination.
Hogan stated that his choice not to run for president may make Trump’s nomination more difficult.
Mike Pompeo
Pompeo announced his withdrawal from the contest on April 13, stating that “this isn’t the time.”
“This isn’t our moment,” Pompeo said on Fox News’s “Special Report with Bret Baier,” in reference to his choice with his wife.
When asked if Trump’s poll advantage influenced his decision, Pompeo answered, “Not at all.”
He left the door open for a possible future run.