Meet the candidates running for a chance at office

On November 15, 2022, Former President Donald Trump announced his candidacy for reelection to a second non-consecutive term. After his announced run, Republican Candidates started flooding into the race in order to try and beat Trump to become the nominee and then to take on President Biden in an election that will decide whether he will regain or lose the white house. According to PBS NewsHour, a plethora of candidates started entering the race after Trump’s announcement, which was expected to scare off potential candidates from challenging him. “As of now, the former president is running in a field that features no fewer than nine high-profile challengers,” according to an article written by PBS NewsHour.

The many republican candidates running include former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Governor of Arkansas Asa Hutchinson, Governor Ron Desantis of Florida, and North Dakota Governor Doug Bergum. Other candidates include former administrative officials like Former United Nations Ambassador and Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, Biotech Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and Conservative Commentator Larry Elder.

On the other side of the aisle, Joe Biden is facing two candidates who feel like his low approval ratings and age mean that the party should search for someone else to take on the nomination for president. According to The New York Times, Minnesota Congressman Dean Philips and Marianne Williamson—self-help author, former Advisor to Oprah Winfrey, and former 2020 presidential candidate— both decided to run for president in 2023. (I want to add an article quote to the end of this sentence)

Besides the Republican and Democratic Candidates, there are also other candidates who are running in the field as independents. According to Reuters, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, political activist Cornel West, and former 2016 Green Party candidate Jill Stein are all running in the middle as a way to take votes from the other major candidates. “An anti-vaccine activist, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 69, is running as an independent after initially challenging Biden for the Democratic nomination, but he is far behind in polling,” said the Reuters article, “but recent Reuters/Ipsos polls show that Kennedy could harm Biden more than Trump in the presidential election, where third-party candidates have affected the outcome of U.S. elections even without winning.” 

As of recently, eight out of the nine candidates, with three who dropped out right before the first caucus election, would eventually drop out of the race for the nomination to either throw their support around Trump, Haley, or no one at all. Meanwhile, President Biden held on to a solid lead and won the New Hampshire primary. Biden’s old age “has prompted some of his critics to question whether he can serve effectively,” according to an article by The Associated Press, and “a notable swath of Democratic voters have indicated they would prefer he not run, though he is expected to easily win the Democratic nomination.”

The Democratic and Republican National Conventions will be held over the summer. Despite the tradition of the party out of power having their convention before the incumbent party, both conventions are expected to be held a month apart from each other instead of just a couple of days.  The Republican National Convention is marked to take place from July 15 to 18, and the Democratic National Convention is scheduled to take place from August 19 to 22.