Who wants to run in 2024? There are more candidates than you think

The 2024 race for the White House is really starting to heat up with talk about third-party independents, a growing list of Democratic challengers looking to take down Joe Biden, and a quickly narrowing group of Republican primary prospects. It can all be a bit much. 

With all of that in mind, you might be a little confused as to who’s actually still in the race to snatch the Oval Office next year. Luckily, the Associated Press has put together a list of possible presidential candidates Americans could be choosing from in November 2024. 

So who’s on the list? Let’s start with an easy one—Donald Trump. The former president currently has a commanding 45.4-point lead over his next closest competitor in the GOP primary. But will Trump’s legal issues eventually force him out of the race for president?

Ron DeSantis is the second choice of Republicans who don’t want to see Trump on the ballot in November 2024. Florida Governor’s has yet to drop out of the race despite his mediocre performance on the campaign trail. Support for DeSantis just keeps shrinking. 

Nikki Haley is a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and something of a rising star in the Republican primary. She kicked off her campaign in February 2023 and has seen a big jump in support among the Republican Party’s biggest donors according to CNBC. 

Vivek Ramaswamy is another contender in the GOP primary and he has been making a big splash in America’s mainstream media. This biotech businessman is well known for his tough criticism and is largely self-funding his run for the highest office in the country.

Chris Christie, that old bugaboo of a former New Jersey Governor and one-time Trump supporter is also still in the race for the White House. He has been mostly spending his time criticizing Donald Trump and the Republican Party’s diehard MAGA base. 

Asa Hutchinson is a rather unknown contender among all the other Republican primary candidates. However, Hutchinson is a two-term Arkansas Governor that the Associated Press cited as the candidate who says he wants to “bring out the best of America."

The last Republican on the list of current presidential candidates is Doug Bergam. He is the former two-term Governor of North Dakota. A rural conservative, Bergman talks a lot about bringing common sense back to the Office of the President. 

Joe Biden is the second most obvious candidate running for office since he is currently the probable Democratic nominee to run in November. However, that doesn’t mean he isn’t without his challengers, from both his party and those running independently. 

Marianne Williamson is probably the most well-known Biden challenger but she really is not a common household name throughout most of the United States. Williamson is a self-help author and she entered the race against Biden all the way back on March 4th. 

Dean Phillips is the other official Democratic challenger to Biden. Again he’s a relatively unknown Congressman from Minnesota’s 3rd District but he’s hammering the message that the Democratic Party needs younger voices in leadership to defeat Donald Trump. 

This brings us to the three independent candidates who have declared their intentions to run in the 2024 Presidential Election. Cornel West, a progressive activist and scholar was the first to declare himself a candidate but he’s been overshadowed by two others. 

Jill Stein ran all the way back in 2016 and was blamed by some Democrats for Hillary Clinton's loss. Stein is an environmental activist according to the Associated Press and she is running again in 2024 in order to give Americans a third choice in the election. 

Robert Kennedy has been making huge political waves ever since he announced that he planned to run as an independent and the reasons should be obvious. Hailing from one of the country’s oldest political dynasties, Kennedy threatens Biden and Trump. 

Which one of the current candidates will win in 2024 has yet to be seen. But the lack of any real ‘game-changers’ in the race reveals the current stagnation of American politics. Nevertheless, with voter apathy at all-time highs, 2024 will be an interesting election if nothing else.