- Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum are all expected to announce their candidacies for president this week.
- Several 2024 Republican presidential candidates said they’re largely unbothered by the three additions to the growing GOP primary field, with some even welcoming the upcoming contenders.
- “I have been an outspoken advocate for having multiple voices in the race from the beginning and I look forward to sharing the stage with both of these gentlemen,” former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Several 2024 Republican presidential candidates said they’re largely unbothered by the growing GOP primary field as former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum make their announcements this week.
Christie is set to announce his second candidacy for president Tuesday evening, while Pence and Burgum prepare to jump in on Wednesday. Many candidates in the Republican primary field welcomed the three new challengers and maintained that they’re focused on their own campaigns, they told the DCNF.
“I am excited to welcome my friends Chris Christie and Mike Pence into the race for President of the United States,” former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson told the DCNF. “I have been an outspoken advocate for having multiple voices in the race from the beginning and I look forward to sharing the stage with both of these gentlemen.”
Conservative businessman Vivek Ramaswamy shared Hutchinson’s sentiment and welcomed the upcoming candidates into the field.
“Competition breeds innovation,” he told the DCNF. (RELATED: Here Are The Republicans Still Weighing A Presidential Bid In 2024)
Conservative radio show personality Larry Elder was unbothered by Christie, Pence and Burgum’s imminent entrance into the GOP primary field.
“How many enter and who enters is completely irrelevant to me,” Elder told the DCNF. “The GOP primary voters will at some point rally behind a candidate whose name is other than Trump who, due to Trump Derangement Syndrome that afflicts swing voters, is not electable.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis admitted he’s “not really paying much attention” to the growing Republican primary field and remains focused on his own political operation, the Governor told KCCI last week. DeSantis’ team forwarded his comments to the DCNF upon request for comment.
“Regardless of who decides to run or not run, for us, it’s really just background noise,” DeSantis said. “We believe we have a message that will win. We believe we have the plan to be able to get that done and it’s basically just about execution for us.”
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott was asked on Fox News Saturday about the three new Republican contenders and if he believes he could get lost in the growing field. He responded he does not, according to comments forwarded to the DCNF by his team.
“I don’t. The good news is I get to stand out with my optimistic, positive message, but I also have been able to accomplish a lot of things from a legislative perspective,” Scott said. “It’s time for us to get back to work, give people their money back and let’s let the American dream continue to be the beacon that we all look for.”
Christie filed the paperwork to run for president with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) Tuesday and will officially announce his candidacy in the key early primary state of New Hampshire. Christie-allies formed a super PAC called Tell It Like It Is in late May to help support the former Governor in his 2024 bid.
In 2009, Christie won the New Jersey Governor’s race after unseating incumbent Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine by roughly 4 points, and secured re-election in 2013 after beating his challenger 60.3% to 38.2%, according to Ballotpedia. 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 former Governor unsuccessfully ran for president in 2016 and dropped out of the primary after placing sixth in New Hampshire at 7.4%. Though Christie ended up endorsing former President Donald Trump in 2016, he became a critic in 2020 after Trump made allegations of election fraud when he lost to Joe Biden, which Christie has said there was no evidence of.
lol CNN just reminded everyone of when Chris Christie murdered Marco Rubio during a debate pic.twitter.com/OPzpGnLoxK
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 1, 2023
Pence filed the paperwork to run for president with the FEC on Monday and is set to officially announce his candidacy in the key early primary state of Iowa. The former Vice President will have to face his former running mate in the race for the Republican nomination, of which Pence’s RCP average is currently 3.8% compared to Trump’s 53.2%.
Trump severed ties with Pence in 2021 when the former Vice President refused to comply with the former President’s challenge of the 2020 election results. Pence also became critical of the former President following the Jan. 6 riot, and told ABC News’ David Muir in November that Trump “endangered me and my family.”
Burgum is a longtime, private sector businessman who had no previous political experience before running for governor. He inherited his family farm and mortgaged it to invest in his technology firm Great Plains Software, which he later sold for over $1 billion to Microsoft — where he served as senior vice president until 2007.
The North Dakota Governor founded the real estate development company the Kilbourne Group in 2006 and co-found software investment firm Arthur Ventures in 2008. Burgum also has ties with the agriculture economy, as he’s a member of his grandparents’ agribusiness company and has a “ranching partnership” with the western region of North Dakota.
Burgum, who’s expected to announce his candidacy in Fargo, North Dakota, handily won the governorship in 2016 and 2020 by roughly 60 and 40 points, respectively, according to Ballotpedia. He has maintained strong approval ratings throughout his governorship and was ranked the fourth-most popular Governor in the country in 2022 at 66%, according to Morning Consult.
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