Presidential primaries and caucuses are being organized by state Republican parties and legislatures to select their delegates to the 2024 Republican National Convention, to determine the party's nominee for president in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The elections will take place individually in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories, between January and June 2024. The 2024 Republican National Convention is scheduled to be held in July at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Former Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton entered the race on November 11, 2022, three days after the 2022 midterm elections and two years ahead of the 2024 election (he had earlier formed an exploratory committee on March 10, 2022). Former President Donald Trump initiated his run for president on November 15. Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley became the first to follow their entrance on February 14, followed by wealth management executive Vivek Ramaswamy one week later, businessman Perry Johnson on March 2, former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson on April 6, radio host Larry Elder on April 20, businessman Ryan Binkley on April 23, U.S. Senator Tim Scott on May 19, Florida governor Ron DeSantis on May 24, former Vice President Mike Pence on June 5, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie on June 6, North Dakota governor Doug Burgum on June 7, Miami mayor Francis Suarez on June 14, and former U.S. Representative Will Hurd on June 22. Suarez dropped out of the race in August, with Hurd, Stapleton, Johnson, Elder, and Pence following in October.
Trump is considered the frontrunner and has maintained a consistent lead in primary polling since 2020. Some Republicans have expressed concerns about his nomination due to his loss in 2020, his ongoing criminal investigations, and the results of the 2022 midterms in which several Trump-endorsed candidates lost key races and cost the party a widely anticipated red wave. However, many others have supported him and decried the investigations as politically motivated. Among non-Trump candidates, DeSantis initially polled in a close second behind Trump, but his polling numbers fell significantly in 2023, bringing him closer to the other candidates. Ramaswamy experienced a surge in polling during the same time period, and he has begun to outpace DeSantis in some polls. However, Trump remains far ahead. The Republican primary has been called a "race for second" due to Trump's consistent and prohibitive lead in polling.
Trump is the first president to run after leaving office since Herbert Hoover in 1940; if he wins the Republican nomination, he will be the first Republican to be nominated for president three separate times since Richard Nixon (Republican nominee in 1960, 1968, and 1972), and the first person to be the Republican presidential nominee in three consecutive elections. If he wins the general election, he will be the first president to serve non-consecutive terms since Grover Cleveland, who won his second term in 1892. Meanwhile, Pence's candidacy made him the first vice president to run against the president under whom they served since John Nance Garner in 1940, while Burgum is the first person born in North Dakota to run for a major party's presidential nomination.
Candidates
As of November 2023, more than 300 candidates have filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to run for the Republican nomination in 2024. In previous cycles, the majority of these candidates did not appear on any ballots, raise money, or otherwise attempt to formally run a campaign.
Declared major candidates
The candidates in this section have declared their candidacies and meet one or more of the following criteria: their campaign has received substantial major media coverage. the candidate is a current or previous holder of a significant elected office (such as president, vice president, governor, U.S. senator, U.S. representative). the candidate has been included in at least five national polls.
Other declared candidates
The candidates in this section are otherwise notable, but have not met the criteria outlined above.
John Anthony Castro, tax consultant and perennial candidate
E. W. Jackson, pastor and nominee for lieutenant governor of Virginia in 2013
Withdrew before the primaries
The candidates in this section have suspended their campaigns, or have otherwise ceased campaigning and ended their bids for the nomination before any primary contests were held.