2024 US presidential race: Who are the Republican hopefuls?

US Republicans have continued to jump into the 2024 White House race, joining an increasingly crowded field of nearly a dozen candidates seeking to become the party's presidential nominee. The Republican field is expected to grow even more congested, with at least a half-dozen more potential candidates ready to join the mix. The pack is led right now by former President Donald Trump, 76, who lost to Joe Biden, 80, in 2020, but has since continued to push his claims of a stolen election. Biden, meanwhile, is the incumbent and favorite to win the Democratic nomination. He is currently being challenged by two longshot candidates: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – the nephew of late President John F. Kennedy – and author and self-help guru Marianne Williamson. Here is a look at the Republican candidates who have either officially thrown their hats into the ring or are weighing a bid. Declared candidates 1. Donald Trump Trump is looking for a rematch with Biden, with many polls saying this might just be the case when the dust settles in the Republican field. Trump's influence within the party has recently waned, as he faces a multitude of state and federal legal investigations and lawsuits. Just last month, a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, but that has not stopped the former president from retaining his base of committed supporters, and some polls show his legal woes making him even more popular. While a crowded field of candidates might seem like a detriment to Trump on the surface, that could actually help him whittle down the opposition in his party by having multiple challengers splitting the anti-Trump vote. 2. Ron DeSantis The Florida governor has touted himself as being the next generation of the Republican party, although many polls have him trailing Trump by a large margin in the early stages of the campaign. DeSantis, 44, has made national headlines over the past few years for his defiant response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in which his state flouted most of the federal guidelines. DeSantis has also become a lightning rod for criticism for enacting policies limiting the teaching of racial history and LGBTQ+ issues in schools, and is currently in a pitched political and legal battle with the Walt Disney World company on related issues. 3. Mike Pence The former vice president to Trump and ex-Indiana governor on Monday officially filed paperwork to enter the fray for the Republican presidential nominee. Once considered Trump's loyal right-hand-man, Pence's relationship with his boss deteriorated after Trump lost to Biden in 2020. While Trump called on him to help overturn the election, Pence continued his duty to certify the results, leading Trump to call on his supporters, which resulted in the Jan. 6, 2021 storming of the US Capitol. Pence, who turns 64 on Wednesday, has since criticized Trump for his "reckless" actions that day. The former vice president has also backed a national abortion ban despite the overturning of Roe v. Wade being a lightning rod issue that makes many Republicans try to steer clear of the topic. 4. Nikki Haley Haley, 51, is a former governor of South Carolina and was also the UN ambassador under Trump. She has been considered a rising star in the Republican party and was the first to challenge her former boss, throwing her hat into the ring for the presidential nomination three months after Trump became the first to make his announcement. Haley has touted a national abortion ban that runs in synch with her two terms as South Carolina's governor, when she signed into law a ban at 20 weeks with no exceptions for rape or incest. She has also supported tougher immigration laws for asylum seekers entering the US through its Mexican border. 5. Vivek Ramaswamy At 37, Ramaswamy is the youngest of the challengers and is considered a long shot for the nomination. However, the former biotech executive with a net worth of nearly $600 million has no shortage of confidence. A self-avowed "anti-woke" capitalist, Ramaswamy has denounced corporate investment based on environmental, social, and governance principles. He wants to raise the voting age from 18 to 25 and "shut down" and "rebuild" the Department of Education, the FBI, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 6. Asa Hutchinson Hutchinson, 72, is the former two-term governor of Arkansas and also a former US congressman. He has publicly opposed a third presidential bid by Trump, warning that a Trump nomination in 2024 would be the "worst scenario" for the Republican party. Hutchinson denounced Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election and has called for the former president to drop out of the 2024 race. When it comes to policy, Hutchinson wants to shrink the federal civilian workforce 10%, expand computer science education into American schools to better compete with China, assure the future of Social Security and Medicare benefits, and sign a federal abortion ban with some exceptions. 7. Tim Scott The US senator from South Carolina is also the first Black Republican senator from the South in more than a century. Scott, 57, has been one of his party's most outspoken voices when it comes to issues of race, including pressing for reforms to the law enforcement system, while arguing that Democrats are wrong about the persistence of structural racism in police departments. While he has not openly criticized Trump like some of his fellow candidates, Scott has declined to commit to supporting Trump if the former president wins the Republican nomination. Scott said he would support the "most conservative pro-life legislation" and reinstate the Title 42 immigration policy while fully funding construction of a wall at the US-Mexico border. 8. Larry Elder Elder, 71, is a conservative talk radio host who ran unsuccessfully against California Governor Gavin Newsom in a 2021 recall election. He has advocated some far-right positions, including eliminating the minimum wage, and has focused his messages on combating crime, promoting school choice, and securing the southern border by investing in physical barriers and beefing up Border Patrol resources. Elder has also emphasized that the US must combat China by "keeping the Pentagon focused on national defense, not left-wing social experimentation" and minimizing America's reliance on Chinese manufacturing. 9. Perry Johnson Johnson, 75, is a businessman and author who campaigned in the 2022 Michigan governor's race. He has published books on international quality control standards involved in production and says that he wants to eliminate inflation and solve the US debt problem by cutting two cents of every dollar in federal discretionary spending. Johnson said he would also push for the dismantling of the Department of Education and pardon former President Trump. 10. Chris Christie Christie, 60, the former governor of New Jersey, ran unsuccessfully against Trump for the Republican nomination in 2016. Christie has had an on-again, off-again relationship with Trump, as both an ally and a critic. He has said publicly that he would not support Trump if the former president won the Republican presidential nomination. Potential contenders 1. Doug Burgum The North Dakota governor won his 2020 reelection bid by a 40-point margin and is considered one of the more popular figures in the Republican Party. Burgum, 66, is a former software entrepreneur who sold a company to Microsoft more than two decades ago and suggested in a recent interview that he was considering a 2024 bid for the Republican presidential nomination. 2. Glenn Youngkin Youngkin, 56, is the one-term governor of Virginia whose term ends in 2026. He has not committed to throwing his hat into the ring for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. However, Youngkin's staff said he was not ruling out a possible bid. 3. Kristi Noem Noem, 51, is the governor of South Dakota whose term ends in 2027. She is a much talked-about figure in the Republican party, but has not committed to a 2024 presidential run as the party's nominee. 4. Liz Cheney Cheney, 56, one of Trump's fiercest critics, lost her seat in Congress to a Trump-backed challenger in Wyoming's 2022 Republican primary election. While she has not confirmed her intentions for the 2024 presidential election, Cheney would definitely spice up the Republican field for the party's nomination, having already ran a TV ad in May calling Trump a "risk" and "unfit for office." 5. John Bolton Bolton, 74, served as Trump's national security adviser and has been critical of his former boss since leaving the administration in 2019. Bolton said he is considering a 2024 presidential run with the specific goal of preventing Trump from winning a second term in office. He called Trump's recent suggestion that the Constitution be terminated "disqualifying," referring to the former president's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in which he lost to Biden.