- While the 2024 GOP primary field increasingly grows, there are still several Republicans that will likely jump in soon.
- North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Vice President Mike Pence are expected to launch presidential campaigns soon, while others are still teasing a bid.
- “I think we’ll lose if Trump’s a nominee,” Christie said in late April. “That’s why I intend to be the nominee.”
Though the 2024 Republican primary landscape has become increasingly crowded, there are several more potential candidates still waiting to jump in.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott are the latest additions to the growing GOP field, joining former President Donald Trump, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and conservative radio personality Larry Elder. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Vice President Mike Pence are expected to launch campaigns soon, while others continue to weigh a bid.
Burgum is expected to enter the presidential race soon and make a “major announcement” on June 7 in Fargo, North Dakota, the Daily Caller News Foundation previously confirmed. The two-term governor has already been filming television commercials in preparation for a campaign launch, and expressed presidential aspirations on May 13 following the conclusion of the state’s legislative session.
“There’s a value to being underestimated all the time,” Burgum told Inforum. “That’s a competitive advantage.” (RELATED: North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum To Make ‘Major Announcement’ As He Prepares To Run For President)
Burgum handily secured his first term in 2016 by roughly 60 points and won reelection in 2020, beating his Democratic challenger 65.8% to 25.4%, according to Ballotpedia. The governor’s approval ratings were high at the beginning of his first and second term at 69% and 58%, respectively, according to Morning Consult; Burgum was ranked as the fourth-most popular governor in the country in 2022, with a 66% approval rating.
CANNON BALL, ND – FEBRUARY 22: North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum speaks during a press conference announcing plans for the clean up of the Oceti Sakowin protest camp in 2017, Mandan, North Dakota. (Photo by Stephen Yang/Getty Images)
Christie is expected to make a presidential announcement within the next two weeks, and his allies formed a super political action committee (PAC), Tell It Like It Is, to support his potential candidacy, the DCNF previously confirmed. Brian Jones, who advised John McCain and Mitt Romney in their bids for the White House, will run the outside fundraising PAC.
“Governor Christie has proven he’s unafraid to tell it like it is and is willing to confront the hard truths that currently threaten the future of the Republican Party,” Jones said in a statement provided to the DCNF. “Now more than ever we need leaders that have the courage to say not what we want to hear, but what we need to hear.”
Christie ran for president in 2016, but withdrew his name after placing sixth in New Hampshire’s primary. Though Christie later endorsed Trump for president, he became a devout critic after the former president alleged there was election fraud in 2020, and the former governor has since presented himself as “the viable Trump alternative” in 2024.
“I think we’ll lose if Trump’s a nominee,” Christie told the Daily Beast in late April. “That’s why I intend to be the nominee.”
The Real Clear Politics (RCP) average for the 2024 national Republican primary, based on polls conducted between May 8 and May 22, indicates that Christie has 1% support.
The latest indication that Pence is running for president came on May 16 when Committed To America PAC launched efforts to encourage the former vice president to assemble a campaign. The “Pence-sanctioned super PAC” is chaired by former Texas GOP Rep. Jeb Hansarling and Scott Reed, former campaign manager for Republican Kansas Sen. Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential run, the DCNF previously confirmed.
“Our goal is to position Pence as the conservative alternative to Trump and DeSantis,” Reed previously told the DCNF. “Pence is not going to try to out-Trump Trump — that appears to be the DeSantis strategy.”
Pence told CBS News’ Robert Costa on April 23 that a decision as to whether he’ll run for president in 2024 will come “well before late June,” according to “Face The Nation.”
The RCP average for the 2024 national Republican primary, based on polls conducted between May 8 and May 22, indicates that Pence has 3.8% support.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who has been weighing a presidential bid for months, indicated Sunday that he would make a decision as to whether he was going to jump in the Republican primaries within “the next week or two,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper on the “State of the Union.”
“When I start doing something, I’m 120% in,” the New Hampshire governor said. “The money has been lined up. The support’s been lined up. There’s a pathway to win. All that — those boxes are checked. The family’s on board, which is always a big one. I just got to make sure it’s right for the party and right for me.”
The RCP average for the 2024 national Republican primary, based on polls conducted between May 8 and May 22, indicates that Sununu has 1% support.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin was widely speculated to throw his hat in the race, but ruled out running for president “this year” on May 1, and insisted he’s solely focused on Virginia’s state legislative elections this fall, where he is hoping to retain the Republican majority in the House and flip the Senate.
Presidential rumors reignited on May 18 when he posted a campaign-like video on Twitter, sponsored by his state PAC, the Spirit of Virginia, where he promised to “usher in a new era of American values” and touched on themes from Ronald Reagan’s presidency.
Reports soon emerged that Youngkin was “reconsidering” his previous decision not to run for president, and GOP donors were urging him to enter the field, though an announcement wouldn’t come until after the state’s elections in November, sources close to the governor told Axios.
“Governor [Youngkin] is focused on Virginia,” Youngkin senior adviser Dave Rexrode said in a statement. “Anyone who anonymously says otherwise probably isn’t as close to the Governor as they want people to think.”
The RCP average for the 2024 national Republican primary, based on polls conducted between May 8 and May 22, indicates that Youngkin has 1% support.
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan was considering running for president, but later decided against it because he didn’t want to contribute to the nomination of the former president, he said.
“To once again be a successful governing party, we must move on from Donald Trump,” Hogan said in a statement. “There are several competent Republican leaders who have the potential to step up and lead. But the stakes are too high for me to risk being part of another multicar pileup that could potentially help Mr. Trump recapture the nomination.”
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