2024 Presidential Candidates
Updated October 21, 2024
Former President Donald Trump is the Republican presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris is the Democratic nominee. After withdrawing from the race on July 21, President Joe Biden endorsed Harris, who quickly secured the support from the pledged delegates that she will need to win the Democratic nomination. Here’s a breakdown of the current 2024 presidential candidates.
Kamala Harris
Age60
PartyDemocrat
BornOakland, California
Vice President Kamala Harris announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president after Biden withdrew from the ticket and endorsed her on July 21. Harris would be the first Black woman and first Asian American to lead the ticket of a major political party. The daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, Harris grew up in Oakland and spent much of her political career in California’s Bay Area. As a US senator, Harris was known for her prosecutorial questioning style during hearings with Trump administration officials and nominees, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions and future Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Past experience
Harris is the current vice president and the highest-ranking female political official in US history. She previously served as a US senator, California attorney general and the San Francisco district attorney.
Key policy issues
With her presidential campaign in full swing, Harris has voiced support for continuing many of Biden’s measures, such as providing tax credits to middle-class and lower-income families, lowering drug costs and eliminating so-called junk fees. Generally, her agenda contains an amped-up series of progressive proposals, though her campaign has confirmed that she’s moved away from several of her more notable left-leaning stances from her 2020 presidential run, such as her interest in a single-payer health insurance system and a ban on fracking.
VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
Tim Walz
Tim Walz is in his second term as Minnesota governor and chairs the Democratic Governors Association. A onetime high school teacher and football coach who served in the Army National Guard, Walz later spent 12 years in Congress, representing a conservative-leaning rural district in Southern Minnesota. Walz had been an outspoken defender of Joe Biden, but when the president dropped out, he endorsed Harris and has since emerged as a reliable, energetic and cutting advocate for the campaign.
Read more about Walz here.
Read more about Walz here.
Donald Trump
Age78
PartyRepublican
BornQueens, New York
Former President Donald Trump launched his bid to reclaim the White House in November 2022, aiming to become only the second commander in chief to win two nonconsecutive terms. Trump continues to deny the outcome of the 2020 election that he lost to Joe Biden and promotes baseless conspiracy theories about election fraud. He was twice impeached by the US House of Representatives, including for his role in inciting the deadly January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol following his electoral defeat. In May 2024, Trump was found guilty of all charges at his New York hush money criminal trial. He also faces charges in three other cases, including over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office.
Past experience
Trump graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in economics. Before launching his successful 2016 presidential bid, Trump was a real estate developer, businessman and a reality television star as host of “The Apprentice.”
Key policy issues
If he wins another term, Trump has said he would overhaul key factions of the federal government and slash social safety net programs. He has also vowed retribution against his political opponents and has said he would appoint a special prosecutor to “go after” Biden and his family.
VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
JD Vance
JD Vance was elected to the US Senate from Ohio in 2022 after receiving a boost from Donald Trump in a contentious Republican primary. A venture capitalist and the author of the best-selling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” Vance had once been a key voice in the “Never Trump” movement during the 2016 election. But he later became a leading MAGA proponent, courting the former president at meetings in Mar-a-Lago and through appearances on Fox News.
Read more about Vance here.
Read more about Vance here.
Third-party candidates
These are the candidates outside of the Republican Party and the Democratic Party who could be on the presidential ballot.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (suspended)
Age70
PartyIndependent
BornWashington, DC
The Kennedy family scion first entered the race in April 2023, challenging President Joe Biden in the Democratic primary. But that October, seeing his path to overtake Biden blocked, he switched to an independent run. In August 2024, Kennedy suspended his campaign, and supported former President Donald Trump. Kennedy, however, still suggested an Electoral College tie could put him in the White House and said he intended to remain on the ballot in some states. During his campaign, Kennedy selected Nicole Shanahan as his running mate, and sought to appeal to voters dissatisfied with both the Democratic and Republican parties. He frequently accused Biden and Trump of increasing government spending, prolonging US involvement in foreign conflicts and enacting policies beneficial to large corporations. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Kennedy drew national attention for spreading false information about the coronavirus, vaccines and public health measures.
Past experience
Kennedy worked as an attorney for the environmental nonprofit Riverkeeper. He also was an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council and president of the Waterkeeper Alliance. He served as chairman of Children’s Health Defense, which is known for promoting anti-vaccination rhetoric.
Key policy issues
Kennedy has promised to withdraw US support for Ukraine and has pledged to negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war. He’s vowed to end the “chronic disease epidemic.” He’s also said he would enact a five-year lobbying ban on former government officials. And Kennedy has pledged to sign on his first day in office an executive order stating that “any government official who lies” would lose their job.
VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
Nicole Shanahan
Shanahan is a Silicon Valley attorney and entrepreneur. She is the founder and president of the Bia-Echo Foundation, which is focused on “reproductive longevity and equality, criminal justice reform and a healthy and livable planet,” according to its website. Shanahan, the ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, is independently wealthy and has contributed millions to her campaign with Kennedy.
Cornel West
Age71
PartyIndependent
BornTulsa, Oklahoma
When West announced his presidential bid in June 2023, he sought to run on the People’s Party line, before pivoting to seek the Green Party nomination. Months later, he abandoned the party process altogether to run as an independent. The progressive scholar and his running mate, professor and activist Melina Abdullah, have sought support from disaffected Democrats who oppose Biden’s support for Israel’s military operation in Gaza.
Past experience
West has worked as a professor at Union Theological Seminary several times throughout the years, with his most recent stint beginning in 2021. He also has worked as a professor at Yale, Princeton and Harvard.
Key policy issues
West has said he would pressure Israel into agreeing to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and to withdrawing from Palestinian territory. He’s also said he would cut off all US aid to Ukraine and push to abolish NATO. He’s pledged to enact free health care for all US residents. West has also said he would discontinue all oil and gas leasing projects on federal lands. He is committed to the payment of reparations to all Black US residents.
VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
Melina Abdullah
Abdullah is an academic and civic leader. She’s a tenured professor at California State University, Los Angeles, and served as the chair of its department of Pan-African studies. She has also served on the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission. She co-founded the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation chapter in Los Angeles and is the director of Black Lives Matter Grassroots.
Jill Stein
Age74
PartyGreen Party
BornChicago, Illinois
Stein originally served as Cornel West’s campaign manager during his brief stint as a Green Party candidate. But shortly after he switched to an independent run, Stein stepped forward to seek the Green nomination herself. Her campaign has largely focused on combatting President Joe Biden’s support for Israel’s war effort in Gaza. In April, she was arrested at a protest at Washington University in St. Louis amid a nationwide series of boycotts calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Past experience
Prior to launching her political career, Stein worked as a physician and was an environmental activist. She was then the Green-Rainbow Party nominee for Massachusetts governor in 2002 and 2010, as well as the party’s nominee for Massachusetts secretary of the commonwealth in 2006. She was the Green Party’s presidential candidate in 2012 and 2016.
Key policy issues
Stein has proposed a climate policy that goes further than progressive Democrats’ “Green New Deal,” pushing the US to achieve zero carbon emissions on a faster timeline. She has pledged to withdraw US support for Israel and Ukraine. She’s in favor of guaranteed free public education from pre-K through college. Stein has also said she would cancel all medical debt as well as double the number of Supreme Court justices and subject them to 18-year term limits.
VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
To be determined
Stein has yet to announce a running mate.
Chase Oliver
Age39
PartyLibertarian Party
BornNashville, Tennessee
Oliver secured the Libertarian nomination after seven rounds of voting at the party’s convention in May 2024. He overcame efforts to block his candidacy by a growing party faction that fielded candidates willing to embrace far-right positions on issues such as immigration and transgender care. Oliver, who visited all 50 states ahead of the Libertarian convention, was sharply critical of Donald Trump’s and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s efforts to court Libertarian voters earlier this year.
Past experience
Prior to launching his political career, he worked in the restaurant industry and then the corporate maritime trade industry, according to an Indiana newspaper. He also was a political activist who opposed the war in Iraq. He was the Libertarian nominee for Georgia’s 5th Congressional District in 2020, and the party’s nominee for US Senate in Georgia in 2022.
Key policy issues
Oliver has called for simplifying the pathway to citizenship for immigrants and expanding work visas. He’s pledged to withdraw the US from all foreign conflicts, including cutting support for Ukraine and Israel. He’s in favor of eliminating the Federal Reserve. He’s committed to federally decriminalizing marijuana use and pardoning all nonviolent drug offenders and has said he would push Congress to decriminalize possession and use of all drugs.
VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
Mike ter Maat
Ter Maat is a retired police officer and economist who worked in George H.W. Bush administration. He ran for the 2024 Libertarian presidential nomination but was eliminated during balloting at the party’s national convention and then joined Oliver on the ticket. He lost a bid for Congress in a 2022 special election as the Libertarian nominee for a South Florida seat.
