The 2024 U.S. presidential race is heating up with President Joe Biden widely expected to announce his re-election bid this week.
His predecessor, former President Donald Trump, officially launched his campaign in November, laying the groundwork for a possible repeat of the 2020 election in which Biden defeats his Republican rival.
With the incumbent president expected to be the Democratic nominee and Trump the early Republican frontrunner, the two major U.S. political parties will start the process next year to formally select their 2024 presidential nominees for the White House.
On the Democratic side, only two hopeless candidates have challenged Biden, while several Republicans have entered the race to compete with Trump for the Republican nomination, and more are expected to enter the election.
Here, Al Jazeera looks at the list of confirmed and expected US presidential candidates, their platforms and opportunities.
the democratic party
joe biden
Biden, who defeated Trump in the 2020 election, has expressed interest in running again in 2024 and is considered the presumptive candidate — though he has yet to formally announce a re-election bid.
An Associated Press-NORC poll released last week found that about half of Democratic voters want Biden to run again, and about 80% said they would support him against a Republican nominee.
Although the Democrats have a slim majority in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives has shifted to Republican control under his leadership, Biden has had a fairly productive presidency. Several of his legislative priorities, including spending more to combat climate change and support U.S. infrastructure, passed Congress early in his first term.
However, Biden has been held back by concerns about his age: If he wins the 2024 election, he will be 82 at the start of his second term. Some critics have questioned his stamina for another four years in the top job.
marianne williamson
Former self-help author Williamson ran unsuccessfully for president in 2020.
A Morning Consult poll in early March found Williamson trailing Biden among Democratic voters by about 73 points.
Williamson embraced themes of economic and racial justice, calling for the preservation of Social Security, stronger support for unions and slavery reparations for black Americans.
“The system has been rigged for the past fifty years,” Williamson said on her website.
“From tax cuts for the wealthy to endless corporate subsidies to privatization of nearly everything; from union busting to forced deregulation to reduced public spending — the average American worker has been denied economic opportunity.”
Robert F Kennedy Jr.
Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist and nephew of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, officially launched his candidacy in April.
He has the support of about 14 percent of Democratic primary voters, according to a USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll that same month.
A member of one of the most prominent families in American politics — the son of Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 while running for the Democratic presidential nomination — he has become a prominent voice of the anti-vaccination movement.
He published a book in 2021 accusing former White House COVID-19 adviser Anthony Fauci of “a historic coup against Western democracy.”
Kennedy has promised to push back against the “corrupt merger between state and corporate power” if elected.
republican party
donald trump
Trump officially launched his campaign in November after defeating Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016 to become president of the United States for one term.
After losing to Biden in 2020, Trump tried to overturn the election by falsely claiming that the vote was “rigged” against him.
Critics say his campaign of sham election fraud prompted a group of Trump supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, to prevent Congress from proving Biden’s electoral victory. Trump was later impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives for “inciting” riots.
Trump, a former businessman and television personality, also continues to face a long list of legal issues and investigations, becoming the first former president to face criminal charges in early April.
Yet Trump – adept at capitalizing on anger at the U.S. political establishment – is ahead of his rivals for the Republican nomination and still wields broad sway over the party’s electorate.
He has adopted a populist tone on topics such as free trade and foreign policy, pursued an “America first” strategy and leaned toward far-right rhetoric against immigrants and Muslims.
During his presidency, however, Trump has governed primarily as a traditional Republican, and his signature legislative achievement has been a series of tax breaks that have largely benefited the wealthy.
ron desantis
Florida Gov. DeSantis has yet to formally announce his candidacy, but is widely seen as Trump’s top challenger for the 2024 nomination.
He rose to prominence in conservative circles through his right-wing cause in Florida in support of issues such as abortion, education and COVID-19 mitigation measures.
In March, DeSantis described the war in Ukraine as a “territorial dispute” that was not in America’s highest national security interest, raising questions about what a potential presidential victory would mean for Washington’s support of Kiev during the Russian invasion .
In a Reuters/Ipsos poll in early April, Trump had a huge lead over DeSantis among Republican and independent voters nationally, 58 percent to 21 percent.
Mike Pence
Pence, who served as Trump’s vice president, said he was considering a 2024 presidential run, telling ABC News last year that he was “religiously considering” the issue.
Pence, whose political career has been centered on his Christian faith, was a staunch defender of the former president, but he has been at odds with Trump after Trump refused to use his ceremonial role overseeing the counting of congressional electoral college votes to overturn the 2020 election. Pu fell out.
Before becoming vice president, Pence was governor of Indiana. He also served in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Among Republican presidential candidates, he has been one of the most vocal supporters of U.S. aid to Ukraine.
Pence is also a staunch supporter against abortion rights. He said in April he would withdraw the abortion drug mifepristone from the market to “protect the unborn child”.
nicki haley
Haley, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has announced that she will seek the Republican nomination in February.
A Morning Consult poll released in mid-April put her at about 4 percent.
While Haley had reservations about Trump’s criticism, she said in a statement that it was time for a “new generation” of Republican leaders.
The daughter of Indian immigrants, she served as governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017.
As Washington’s special envoy to the United Nations during the Trump administration, she advocated a confrontational stance against Iran and was a staunch supporter of U.S. allies in the region, particularly Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Tim Scott
As a Republican senator, Scott has yet to announce that he will seek the party’s nomination, but said he will form an “exploring committee” in April.
Scott, the only black Republican in the U.S. Senate, recently told The Associated Press that Republicans are “hungry for hope.”
He had previously positioned himself as a conservative willing to challenge liberal ideas about racism in America.
“Listen to me,” he said in a 2021 speech. “America is not a racist country.”
Vivek Ramaswamy
Ramaswamy is an entrepreneur and author who gained a reputation as a crusader against “wakeism,” a loose term that usually refers to a commitment to social justice but has been Used by conservatives to paint an image of political correctness.
A Morning Consult poll in April put Ramaswamy at about 3 percent in the Republican primary.
Ramaswamy was born in Ohio and graduated from Yale Law School before working at a hedge fund and starting a pharmaceutical company.
His campaign website notes that he has been dubbed the “CEO of the Anti-Awakening.”
Asa Hutchinson
Hutchinson is the former Republican governor of Arkansas, where he served from 2015 to 2023.
His profile on the National Governors Association website shows that he served three terms in the U.S. Congress and deputy secretary of Homeland Security under former President George W Bush.
A Morning Consult poll had him at zero.
larry elder
Elder, a conservative radio talk show host, is the most serious candidate trying to replace California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on a 2021 recall ballot.
Newsom repelled recall attempts with ease, but the failure rate was about 62% to 38%.
Black radio host denies systemic racism exists in America.
When he announced his candidacy in April, he said the country was in decline but could be entering “a new golden age”.
He has yet to appear in the primary, but is considered a remote candidate.
