20 Confirmed US Presidential Candidates In 2024: Both Republican and Democratic – Wiki, Biography

Who is running for President of the United States in the 2024 general election? A list of confirmed Republican and Democratic candidates revealed.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum launched a 2024 presidential campaign in the early months of 2023, making his case for the Republican nomination in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.

Burgum, 66, will face an already-crowded Republican field of candidates that includes former President Donald Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov., and Ron DeSantis.

President Joe Biden announced in April that he will run for reelection in 2024, with Vice President Kamala Harris once again joining him on the ticket.

As the 2024 presidential election rapidly approaches, campaigns are well underway for what is already shaping up to be one of the most heated political races in American history. Let’s meet all of the confirmed candidates so far.

Joe Biden

• Age: 80
• Party: Democratic
• Candidacy: Confirmed

Less than two months after his 2021 inauguration, President Joe Biden announced his intention to run for reelection in 2024, with Vice President Kamala Harris joining him on the ticket once again. He followed through on that intention in April 2023, formally launching his reelection campaign.

“The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom; more rights or fewer. I know what I want the answer to be and I think you do too,” Biden said in a three-minute announcement video that showed images of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots and abortion rights protests. “This is not a time to be complacent. That’s why I’m running for reelection — because I know America. I know we’re good and decent people. I know we’re still a country that believes in honesty, respect, and treating each other with dignity. We’re a nation where we give hate no safe harbor. We believe that everyone is equal, that everyone should be given a fair shot to succeed in this country.”

Biden — who served as a U.S. Senator from 1973 until his promotion to vice president in 2009 — is a career Democrat who’s garnered a reputation for speaking his mind on issues he supports (in 2012, he made history for announcing his support of same-sex marriage before the Obama administration had a chance to sign off).

After beating out a strong pool of Democratic candidates in the 2020 presidential primaries, he faced incumbent President Donald Trump, securing both the popular vote and electoral college.

President Biden is an obvious frontrunner in the 2024 election who can tout his early legislative hot streak as commander-in-chief, though his lackluster approval ratings over issues surrounding the economy — and his age — have left some members of his own party questioning whether he can pull off another win. After the 2022 midterms, in which Democratic candidates massively over-performed, retained control of the Senate, and picked up new governor seats, Biden got a bit more credit for his party leadership — but another term in the White House is far from guaranteed.

Donald Trump

• Age: 76
• Party: Republican
• Candidacy: Confirmed

Twice impeached, criminally charged and generally full of controversy, former President Donald Trump is far from the ideal candidate to lead the Republican Party in 2024, but he’s proven before that he can command an audience — perhaps too well, after a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on his behalf to try and keep him in power after losing reelection to Joe Biden — and that’s enough to make him a serious contender.

Trump left the White House on a sour note, with members of his own party turning on him for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. Since leaving office, several former staffers have come forward with shocking allegations about his conduct, and he continues to be the subject of multiple criminal investigations.

Still, Trump stayed active in politics, campaigning for far-right candidates throughout the 2022 midterm election cycle. His endorsees fared poorly at the polls, contributing to Republicans losing important races and suggesting the unpopularity of election denialism, but it didn’t faze him: On Nov. 15, 2022, he formally declared his candidacy in the 2024 presidential election.

Trump has since made history as the first sitting or former president to face criminal charges, for allegedly falsifying business records in relation to alleged hush money payments made to two women, including porn star Stormy Daniels. Then he made history again as the first U.S. president to face federal criminal charges over his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House. He pleaded not guilty to all charges in both cases.

The charges are not expected to impact his 2024 campaign much, but if other ongoing investigations into his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election result in charges as well, on-the-fence voters may fear he has too much baggage.

Ron DeSantis

• Age: 44
• Party: Republican
• Candidacy: Confirmed

As Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis has characterized the division that encapsulates the state’s political makeup. A hero among right-wing conservatives and a proud enemy to others, he riles up a similar base as Trump, posing a possible threat to the former president. Though he previously downplayed his intentions to run for president, he formally entered the 2024 presidential race in May 2023. Numerous polls have suggested that DeSantis is the most popular alternative to Trump.

DeSantis has dominated headlines since assuming the office of governor as the commander in chief of America’s culture wars, restricting voting rights, enacting Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, politicizing the concept of critical race theory, pushing to ban gender-affirming medical care, refusing to order COVID vaccines for young children, and scolding students wearing masks. Acknowledging that DeSantis lacks the charisma Trump has, a political insider tells PEOPLE, “He is shrewd and makes sure he looks like he is doing the right thing.” His talent? “He is a leader unruffled by controversy.”

Prior to becoming governor in 2019, DeSantis represented Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Tim Scott

• Age: 57
• Party: Republican
• Candidacy: Confirmed

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott has the potential to be a strong candidate in the 2024 presidential race, proving himself as one of the Republican Party’s best fundraisers who spent a significant amount of energy during his 2022 reelection campaign helping other GOP candidates earn support.

The senator, who entered the presidential race in May 2023, assumed his current position in 2013 and remains the lone Black Republican in Congress’s upper chamber. Prior to joining the Senate, Scott served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He’s also served one term in the South Carolina State House of Representatives and 14 years on the Charleston City Council.

Scott was propelled into the national spotlight in 2021 when he delivered the official GOP rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s first address to a joint session of Congress. He also made headlines for leading across-the-aisle negotiations in Congress’ effort to find a compromise on police reform. Scott has previously spoken out about police brutality, delivering an impassioned speech during the Republican National Convention following the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in 2020.

On issues like immigration, climate, health care, abortion, and same-sex marriage, Scott has demonstrated conservative views.

Nikki Haley

• Age: 51
• Party: Republican
• Candidacy: Confirmed

On June 30, the former South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President Trump told reporters in Iowa that she is open to running for president in 2024 “if there’s a place for me.” The Des Moines Register reported that Nikki Haley said, “I’ve never lost a race. I’m not going to start now. I’ll put 1,000 percent in and I’ll finish it.”

On Feb. 14, Haley officially made the leap, announcing her candidacy with a video and donation link on social media.

In a July 2022 poll conducted by The New York Times/Siena College, Haley was tied with Mike Pence for fourth place in a hypothetical question about which rumored candidate Republicans would support in 2024. Since then, she seems to have faded out of the conversation more as Pence and DeSantis take center stage, but her early candidacy could help her change that.

Haley has been a supporter of Trump since he earned the Republican Party nomination in 2016, later calling him a “friend” and tweeting in January 2021 that she was “really proud of the successes of the Trump administration.” Following the deadly Capitol riots, she delivered mixed messages on her support of Trump, at once bashing his critics and calling his actions a letdown. Later in 2021, she said that if Trump runs for president again, she will support him and not contest him — though she has clearly moved past that.

Mike Pence

• Age: 63
• Party: Republican
• Candidacy: Confirmed

As vice president under Donald Trump, Mike Pence gained prominence as the more traditionally conservative politician in the administration. Before that, he’d made a name for himself in his home state of Indiana as governor and, prior, a longtime representative in the U.S. House.

Pence, who entered the presidential race in June 2023, sits in an interesting position as 2024 approaches. He once was considered a valiant hero by Trump followers, who viewed him as the loyal and stable counterpart to the president, but after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots, Trump’s most loyal fans turned on him for not halting the ceremonial vote count that declared Joe Biden president. Fortunately for Pence, many who were disgusted by Trump’s involvement in the insurrection sided with the vice president, believing him to be a true patriot who put the health of the nation over his demanding boss.

Trump made it clear that Pence would not join him on the ticket again if he ran a third time, paving the way for Pence to consider a run of his own. Beyond needing to beat Trump in a primary, though — which would come as a great challenge — Pence first needs to convince voters that he’s a tough competitor to flashier candidates like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott. According to early polling numbers, his path to the White House appears a long shot.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

• Age: 69
• Party: Democratic
• Candidacy: Confirmed

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the controversial nephew of late President John F. Kennedy and son of esteemed politician Robert F. Kennedy, filed paperwork to run for president in April 2023 after teasing the idea online for about a month prior.

Kennedy — often called Bobby Jr. — now puts himself in similar shoes to his father, who was a serious contender for the Democratic nomination for president in 1968 when he was abruptly assassinated. Despite the trauma of losing his dad in a hateful act as a teen, he remains interested in entering politics and is now the fourth person in the large Kennedy family to make a bid for the White House.

In recent years, Kennedy — an environmental lawyer who is married to Curb Your Enthusiasm actress, Cheryl Hines — has become one of the most controversial figures in his family for becoming an outspoken anti-vaccine conspiracist, lobbying against vaccine requirements and founding a propagandist nonprofit called Children’s Health Defense, which a 2019 study says paid for more than half of the ads on Facebook promoting false claims about vaccines, according to The New York Times. More recently, Kennedy came under fire for spreading dangerous disinformation about COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic.

Despite his problematic views, Kennedy has long supported Democratic candidates and plans to run on the Democratic ticket. A Kennedy family source tells PEOPLE that “President Biden is hugely popular in the Kennedy family,” raising questions about whether Bobby Jr. will even be able to get his own family’s support, as many relatives are openly opposed to some of his wide-ranging views.

Asa Hutchinson

• Age: 72
• Party: Republican
• Candidacy: Confirmed

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson recently finished his second and final term in office, opening the door for him to seek the presidency — a political jump that he confirmed he will take on April 2, 2023, in an interview with Jonathan Karl on This Week.

“As I’ve traveled the country for six months, I hear people talk about the leadership of our country, and I’m convinced that people want leaders that appeal to the best of America, and not simply appeal to our worst instincts,” Hutchinson told Karl. “And that inspires me when I see everyday Americans just saying, ‘Give us good leadership, give us common sense, consistent conservatism and optimism about our great country.’ … I believe I can be that kind of leader for the people of America.”

As the Arkansas governor, Hutchinson routinely went against the grain of more extreme members of his party, refusing to sign a gay discrimination bill in 2015, vetoing a bill to deny transgender children gender-affirming care in 2021 (the state legislature ultimately overrode his veto), and acknowledging that he made a mistake banning mask mandates during COVID-19.

He has also distanced himself from Trump, calling the former president “morally” responsible for the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, urging Republicans to refrain from discrediting the FBI’s investigation into Trump, and declaring he would not support another Trump campaign.

Vivek Ramaswamy

• Age: 37
• Party: Republican
• Candidacy: Confirmed

A leading manufacturer of the corporate anti-woke movement, conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is eager to take on Trump in the Republican primary, announcing his presidential campaign in late February 2023. The businessman is running on a platform of unity — one that’s deceivingly divisive.

Ramaswamy, an Ohio native whose parents immigrated from India, has been outspoken against companies using their platforms for social causes and has echoed the views of many far-right Republicans today that America’s values are in decline, citing critical race theory, affirmative action, environmentalism, and self-victimization as things that he believes destroyed the nation’s once-shared identity.

“We’ve celebrated our ‘diversity’ so much that we forgot all the ways we’re really the same as Americans, bound by ideals that united a divided, headstrong group of people 250 years ago,” he wrote in a tweet when he announced his campaign. “I believe deep in my bones those ideals still exist. I’m running for President to revive them.”

In addition to founding tech and healthcare companies, Ramaswamy is the best-selling author of Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam, leading the New Yorker to dub him as the “CEO of Anti-Woke, Inc.” His book proved him a political thought leader in conservative spheres and earned him regular appearances on Fox News alongside Tucker Carlson, whose hot-tempered tone has seemingly rubbed off on Ramaswamy.

To many on the right, Ramaswamy is a familiar face with intriguing ideas about business and the economy, which will prove a useful reputation as he fights his way through the Republican primary season with far more prominent GOP opponents. The question is whether he can really unite Americans in the way he hopes, or if his foray into right-wing culture wars will come back to haunt him.

Chris Christie

• Age: 60
• Party: Republican
• Candidacy: Confirmed

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had repeatedly expressed interest in running for president in 2024 before formally launching his second presidential campaign in June 2023. In recent public appearances, Christie has said that somebody needs to stop Donald Trump from returning to power, suggesting that he’s the only Republican willing and able to throw some punches in a face-off with the former president.

“He failed us as president based on what he himself told us in 2015, in 2016, what he would do when he became president,” said Christie, who supported Trump during the last two presidential elections, at a town hall event. “He failed us as a president on the promises he made to us.”

Christie — who was a prominent force in Trump’s 2016 campaign and at one point spearheaded his presidential transition team — told Politico that Trump’s weakness “needs to be called out and it needs to be called out by somebody who knows him. Nobody knows Donald Trump better than I do.”

The onetime governor launched a bid for the White House in 2016 that was cut short by his poor performance in the earliest primary elections.

Marianne Williamson

• Age: 70
• Party: Democratic
• Candidacy: Confirmed

Marianne Williamson became the first notable Democratic candidate in the 2024 race, revealing in March 2023 that she would be again seeking the nation’s highest office.

The self-help author, who has written 14 books, previously ran in the 2020 presidential race. She struggled to gain traction with primary voters, instead making headlines for strange quotes on the campaign trail, like how her first act as president would be to tell then-New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, “Girlfriend, you are so on,” and how the only way Trump could be defeated was by channeling “love.”

Williamson’s signature 2020 policy proposal called for $200 to $500 billion to be distributed by Black American leaders for community development and education. Her policy platform also generally aligned with the Democratic mainstream, including proposals to perform gun laws, combat man-made climate change, and provide universal health care.

Larry Elder

• Age: 71
• Party: Republican
• Candidacy: Confirmed

Larry Elder — the right-wing radio host and political commentator who unsuccessfully challenged California Gov. Gavin Newsom in a 2021 recall election — jumped into the crowded 2024 Republican primary in April 2023.

“America is in decline, but this decline is not inevitable,” the self-described libertarian wrote on Twitter in announcing his campaign. “We can enter a new American Golden Age, but we must choose a leader who can bring us there. That’s why I’m running for President.”

Elder is a former lawyer and the longtime host of the nationally syndicated conservative radio program The Larry Elder Show. Aside from his political views, he’s stirred controversy for insulting women’s intelligence in a 2000 magazine column, getting accused of menacingly brandishing a gun while his ex-fiancée was talking (allegations he has vehemently denied), and claiming election fraud when he lost the long-shot recall bid in California.

His 2024 election website lists his top priorities — which include tackling crime, “breaking the monopoly of the public school system,” squashing critical race theory and diversity, equity & inclusion “cults,” containing China, and securing the border.

Will Hurd

• Age: 45
• Party: Republican
• Candidacy: Confirmed

Former Texas Rep. Will Hurd jumped into the presidential race in late June 2023, calling himself a “dark horse” candidate and saying he’s “pissed” that politicians aren’t spending enough time talking about serious issues.

“I believe the Republican Party can be the party that talks about the future, not the past,” Hurd said while announcing his campaign on CBS Mornings. “We should be putting out a vision of how do we have unprecedented peace, how do we have a thriving economy, how do we make sure our kids have a world-class education, regardless of their age and location? We can do this. It’s hard. But here’s one thing I’ve learned: If we remember two things, we can pull this off. America is better together. Way more unites us than divides us.”

Hurd served in Congress from 2015 to 2021, retiring alongside several other Republican House members ahead of the 2020 election. His district was primarily Hispanic and seated a Democrat before he got there; despite being a Black Republican, he ousted the incumbent in 2014, at the time crediting his ability to “engage people where they are” rather than catering his message to a specific race, gender, or party.

The former congressman got his start in government at the Central Intelligence Agency, which sent him to a handful of South Asian countries during his nine-year employment and made him fluent in Urdu. At the CIA he also was tasked with briefing members of Congress, which he told The Washington Post in 2015 was the reason he grew interested in pursuing politics.

Doug Burgum

• Age: 66
• Party: Republican
• Candidacy: Confirmed

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a former Microsoft executive, jumped into the presidential race in June 2023, adding his name to a growing list of far-better-known Republican candidates. Burgum was reelected to a second term as governor with about two-thirds of the vote in 2020, proving his popularity in North Dakota—but the state ranks 47th in population, meaning he has a long way to go toward earning the recognition and popularity he’d need to pose a real threat to fellow candidates.

Burgum’s tenure as governor has seen him approve a substantial income tax cut in North Dakota, enact one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the nation, and enter culture war territory by banning critical race theory in K-12 schools and banning gender-affirming care for minors (in addition to numerous other anti-trans actions).

In both 2016 and 2020, Burgum and Trump endorsed one another’s campaigns.

Cornel West

• Age: 70
• Party: Green
• Candidacy: Confirmed

Cornel West, a prominent Black academic known for his discussions on race and class in the United States, initially entered the 2024 presidential race as a candidate for the People’s Party before shifting gears to say he would seek the Green Party’s nomination.

A self-described “non-Marxist socialist,” the philosopher has taught at numerous universities — including four Ivy Leagues — and served as honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America. In both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, he endorsed independent Sen. Bernie Sanders.

West is thus far the furthest-left candidate in the presidential race, criticizing both major parties as well as their current figureheads, Biden and Trump. His stated positions include prioritizing clean energy, ending the war, forgiving student debt, and expanding Social Security.

“In these bleak times, I have decided to run for truth and justice,” West said upon announcing his 2024 campaign. “I enter in the quest for truth. I enter in the quest for justice, and the presidency is just one vehicle to pursue that truth and justice, what I’ve been trying to do all of my life.”

Francis Suarez

• Age: 45
• Party: Republican
• Candidacy: Confirmed

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez announced his candidacy in a video posted online in June. “I’m going to run for president,” Suarez says in the ad. “I’m going to run for your children and mine. Let’s give them the future they deserve.”

In the video, which comes one day after Suarez filed the necessary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission, Suarez suggests a contrast between himself and another Florida resident running for president — Donald Trump — saying: “America’s so-called leaders confuse being loud with actually leading. All Washington wants to do is fight with each other instead of fighting for the people that put them in office.”

The mayor’s entry into the presidential race came just two days after Trump was in Miami to face a judge after being indicted by a federal grand jury for his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House. 

In an appearance on Good Morning America, Suarez said he’s running for president “because I think I have a different message than what other candidates have.”

“People want somebody who can unify them,” he added.

Source: PEOPLE