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Whether or not you’re ready for it, the 2024 U.S. presidential election season has already begun.
President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has yet to formally announce a reelection plan but has repeatedly indicated his intention to run. If he does announce another campaign, he is poised to first face author and Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, who joined the race on March 2. On the Republican side, former President Donald Trump, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have declared their candidacies. Other presidential hopefuls are only a matter of time.
Below is a list of all the 2024 presidential candidates from both parties who have officially entered the race. We will update this article as new candidates announce their election bids.
Republican Presidential Candidates
Nikki Haley
Nikki Haley, 51, served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under President Donald Trump from January 2017 through December 2018. Before that, she was governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017. The daughter of Sikh immigrants from Punjab, India, Haley is considered the first woman of color to be a major candidate for the Republican nomination.
Haley was the first female and first Indian American to serve as South Carolina governor. She was on the short list of possible vice presidential running mates for Trump’s 2016 campaign, despite making critical remarks about him in the past. As ambassador, she forcefully defended Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and kept the international community attuned to threats from Russia, North Korea, and Iran.
Vivek Ramaswamy
Vivek Ramaswamy, 37, is a biotech and health care entrepreneur, and the author of the books Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit, and the Path Back to Excellence and Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam. He graduated from Harvard College with a degree in biology, and he received his juris doctor from Yale Law School, according to his campaign site.
He started the company Roivant Sciences, where he oversaw the development of five drugs that went on to become FDA-approved, according to his site. In 2022, Ramaswamy co-founded the Strive Asset Management firm, for which he serves as executive chairman. That year, he also spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas. The New Yorker has called him “the C.E.O. of Anti-Woke, Inc.”
Donald Trump
Donald Trump, 76, was the 45th President of the United States, serving from 2017 to 2021. He was defeated by Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. The billionaire real estate mogul and former host of The Apprentice reality television series defeated Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
During his time as President, Trump introduced strict immigration policies, including a travel ban for several predominantly Muslim countries; withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement; rescinded the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate; oversaw the country’s initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic; and appointed three conservative justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. He is the first and only president in history to be impeached twice by the U.S. House of Representatives.
Democratic Presidential Candidate
Marianne Williamson
Marianne Williamson, 70, is an author, political activist, and spiritual thought leader. She has written 14 books, four of which were No. 1 New York Times bestsellers, according to her business site. She previously ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020.
Williamson founded Project Angel Food, a nonprofit that has delivered more than 15 million meals to ill and dying homebound patients since 1989. In 2004, she co-founded The Peace Alliance and supports the creation of a U.S. Department of Peace.
In a statement posted to her business site in February 2023, Williamson said she is running for president to “help bring an aberrational chapter of our history to a close and to help bring forth a new beginning.”
When Is the 2024 Presidential Election?
Election Day is November 5, 2024. Register to vote or check your registration status on the National Association of Secretaries of State website.
The Republican primary campaign season will begin on January 22, 2024, with the Iowa presidential caucuses. The first Democratic primary will be held in South Carolina on February 3, 2024.
Colin McEvoy joined the Biography.com staff in 2023, and before that had spent 16 years as a journalist, writer, and communications professional. He is the author of two true crime books: Love Me or Else and Fatal Jealousy. He is also an avid film buff, reader, and lover of great stories.
Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff in 2023, and before that had worked almost eight years as a newspaper reporter and copy editor. He is a graduate of Syracuse University, an avid sports fan, a frequent moviegoer, and trivia buff.
