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.”
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.
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.
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