2024 presidential candidates: Who’s running, who’s out and who to watch

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Ron DeSantis

Though he hasn’t formally announced a presidential campaign, Florida’s governor is considered the chief rival to Trump. DeSantis is in his second term as governor, and during his time in Tallahassee he has gained national recognition for his COVID-19 policies and embrace of the culture wars.

DeSantis has also leaned into education issues, reshaping Florida’s public education policies and engaging in local school board races during the 2022 election cycle. His efforts as governor have won him popularity with Republican voters, and though he hasn’t launched a campaign, DeSantis is set to make stops in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, another early voting state, to promote his new book.

DeSantis skipped CPAC this year and instead addressed donors at a retreat hosted by the conservative Club for Growth.

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Mike Pence

The former vice president and Indiana governor has signaled he is exploring a presidential bid and said he intends to make a decision on his political future by the spring. Pence, though, has suggested he believes the GOP should move on from Trump.

“I think we’re going to have new leadership in this party and in this country,” he told CBS News in January.

Pence also has declined to commit to supporting Trump if he is the Republican nominee, instead saying that he believes GOP voters will choose “wisely again” in 2024 and thinks “different times call for different leadership.”

While Pence has promoted the policies of the Trump administration, he has also criticized the former president for his actions on Jan. 6, saying in November that Trump’s words were “reckless” and put him and his family, who were on Capitol Hill that day for the joint session of Congress, in danger.

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Mike Pompeo

Pompeo served as director of the CIA and secretary of state during Trump’s one term and as with Pence, Pompeo said he plans to make a decision about whether he’ll run for president by the spring.

During an interview with “CBS Mornings” in January, Pompeo said Trump’s decision to run for president a third time is not affecting his own move. 

Pompeo released a book in January detailing his tenure in the Trump administration, in which he takes aim at Haley and claims she tried to replace Pence as vice president. But Haley refuted his allegations, telling Fox News that they’re “lies and gossip to sell a book.”

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Tim Scott

Scott, of South Carolina, is the only Black Republican senator, and a trip to Iowa in February stirred speculation that he is considering a White House run.

Adding to the buzz about Scott’s political ambitions is his recent hiring of former GOP Sen. Cory Gardner and a longtime GOP operative to lead his super PAC Opportunity Matters, according to Axios.

He also embarked on a listening tour of his home state of South Carolina, another early primary state, in February.

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Chris Sununu

Sununu, the governor of New Hampshire, has not held back in criticizing Trump and provided a preview of his pitch to voters during an interview with “Face the Nation” last month, during which he promoted a “New Hampshire model” of leadership.

Sununu said the American people are “tired of extreme candidates” and partisan gridlock.

In 2021, Sununu decided to forgo a run for the Senate to challenge first-term Democrat Maggie Hassan and opted instead to seek a fourth term as governor, which he won in November.