The 2024 Republican presidential field has narrowed, with Doug Burgum dropping out of the race.
The North Dakota governor qualified for the first two presidential debates but missed the third debate and appeared unlikely to take the stage for the fourth debate, which was scheduled to take place Wednesday in Alabama.
Here's a look at the candidates still vying for the Republican and Democratic nominations, as well as the third-party contenders:
DONALD TRUMP
The former president announced his third campaign for the White House at his Mar-a-Lago resort on November 15, 2022, forcing the party to once again decide whether to embrace a candidate whose refusal to accept defeat in 2020 prompted for the attack on the US Capitol. and still dominates his speeches.
The GOP frontrunner remains extremely popular within the Republican Party, despite making history as the first president to be impeached twice and inciting the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021. Trump calls himself the “most pro life president of America. three appointments of conservative justices to the Supreme Court paved the way for the reversal of Roe v. Wade, which had legalized abortion nationwide for nearly 50 years. Sweeping criminal justice reforms he signed into law in 2019 relaxed mandatory minimum sentences and gave judges more leeway in sentencing.
In March, Trump became the first former US president to be criminally charged. He faced 34 felony charges for falsifying company records as part of a hush money scheme. He has since been charged with another 57 crimes in three other criminal cases, accused of mishandling and unlawfully retaining classified documents and attempting to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 election.
RON DESANTIS
Florida's governor officially launched his 2024 presidential campaign on May 24 in an error-marred Twitter announcement.
DeSantis has billed his state as a “wake to die” place and has built his campaign around a desire to bring the conservative policies he championed in Florida to the national stage. He has made a name for himself battling Disney over the entertainment giant's opposition to a bill critics have dubbed the “Don't Say Gay” law, which would ban instruction or classroom discussion of LGBTQ issues in Florida public schools for all grades.
Under his governorship, the state also banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and prohibited public colleges from using federal or state funding for diversity programs.
NIKKI HALEY
The former United Nations ambassador and governor of South Carolina became the Republican Party's first major challenger to Trump when she launched her campaign in Charleston on February 15. She is the only woman in the GOP field.
The former Trump Cabinet official once said she would not challenge her former boss for the White House in 2024. But she changed her mind and referred to the country's economic problems and the need for “generational change,” a nod to the 77-year-old president of the White House. old Trump's age.
VIVEK RAMASWAMY
The wealthy biotech entrepreneur and author of 'Woke, Inc.' began his presidential campaign on February 21 with a video and op-ed.
The son of Indian immigrants, he has gained prominence in conservative circles for his criticism of the environmental, social and corporate governance movement that seeks to promote socially responsible investing. So far, he has largely self-financed his campaign.
CHRIS CHRISTIE
The former governor of New Jersey went after Trump when he announced his presidential campaign in New Hampshire on June 6. He called the former president a “lonely, self-righteous, selfish mirror hog” and argued that he is the only one who can do that. stop him.
Christie, a 2016 presidential candidate and former Trump adviser, has said others may be afraid to challenge the former president, but he has no qualms about doing so. “The reason I'm going after Trump is twofold,” Christie said. “First of all, he deserves it. And secondly, it is the way to win.”
ASA HUTCHINSON
The former Arkansas governor launched his presidential campaign April 26 in Bentonville, promising to “bring out the best of America” and reform federal law enforcement agencies.
He announced his campaign shortly after Trump was indicted by a New York grand jury and called on the former president to drop out of the race, saying, “The office is more important than any individual.”
JOE BIDEN
President Joe Biden formally announced his reelection campaign in a video on April 25, asking voters for time to “get this job done.”
Biden, the oldest president in U.S. history, would be 86 at the end of a second term, and his age has prompted some of his critics to question whether he can serve effectively. A significant portion of Democratic voters have indicated they would prefer he not run, even though he is expected to easily win the Democratic nomination.
Biden, who has vowed to “restore the soul of America,” plans to boost his reputation. He spent his first two years in office battling the coronavirus pandemic and pushing through major bills such as the bipartisan infrastructure package and legislation promoting high-tech manufacturing and climate action.
MARIANNE WILLIAMSON
Self-help author Marianne Williamson joined the Democratic primary in Washington on March 4 and called for “a vision of justice and love so powerful that it will overcome the forces of hatred, injustice and fear.”
During her failed 2020 presidential campaign, she proposed the creation of a Ministry of Peace and argued that the federal government should pay large financial reparations to Black Americans to atone for centuries of slavery and discrimination.
DAAN PHILLIPS
The Minnesota congressman is the first elected Democrat to challenge Biden for the nomination. After months of calling for a primary challenger, Phillips entered the race himself on October 27 with a speech outside the New Hampshire statehouse.
While Phillips is effusive in his praise for Biden, the 54-year-old also says Democrats need younger votes to avoid a nightmare scenario in which Trump wins another election next fall.
Phillips is one of the wealthiest members of Congress and heir to his stepfather's Phillips Distilling Company empire, which controls major brands of vodka and schnapps. He was once president of that company, but also ran the ice cream maker Talenti. His grandmother was the late Pauline Phillips, better known as the advice columnist “Dear Abby.”
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.
The best-selling author and environmental advocate announced on Oct. 9 that he would end his Democratic presidential bid and instead launch an independent run.
Nephew of President John F. Kennedy and son of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, he initially launched a long-running effort to challenge Biden for the Democratic nomination on April 19 in Boston. In announcing his party switch, he said he planned to be a spoiler candidate for both Biden and Trump.
Kennedy has emerged as one of the leading voices of the anti-vaccine movement, with public health experts and even members of his own family describing his work as misleading and dangerous. He has also been associated with far-right figures in recent years.
JILL STEIN
The environmental activist, whose third-party presidential bid in 2016 was blamed by Democrats for helping Trump win the White House, says she is running again for the nation's highest office.
Stein announced on November 9 that she will again run under the banner of the Green Party. “I'm running for president to give that choice to those outside the failed two-party system,” she said.
She ran against Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton as the Green Party candidate in 2016 and received about 1% of the vote. Some Democrats said her candidacy took votes away from Clinton, especially in swing states like Wisconsin.
CORNEL WEST
The progressive activist and academic announced on October 5 that he was ending his bid for president under the Green Party banner and instead running as an independent candidate.
West wrote on X that he was running as an independent candidate to “end the iron grip of the ruling class and ensure real democracy!” He added: “We must break the grip of the duopoly and give power to the people.”
He initially announced in June that he would run as a member of the People's Party before soon switching to the Green Party.
Republicans: Former Vice President Mike Pence, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, radio host Larry Elder, businessman Perry Johnson, former Texas Congressman Will Hurd and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.
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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.