As Americans across the country are stuffing their stomachs with ham or cranberry sauce this holiday season, they are also gearing up to rush to the polls and start preparing for next year’s presidential election. 

The 2024 United States presidential election takes place on the first Tuesday of November 2024, and this civic tradition will mark America’s 60th presidential contest. However, what will that election look like, and who is running?  

With the presidential campaign in full swing, there are currently nine Republicans pursuing their party nomination for the Nov. 5, 2024, election. Among the candidates is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, known for his far-right cultural agendas in the sunshine state like the Parental Rights in Education Act, referred to some as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law. 

Besides DeSantis, American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is also one of the candidates who is in the running for the Republican party nomination but is among the sea of contenders that is on top of the GOP race is former President Donald Trump.  

In a report from The Wall Street Journal, the former president has an enormous lead in the polls in the race to be commander in chief. With the first round of state voting beginning early next year, the eight other candidates are in crunch time to secure the lead as next year’s election is shaping out to be a rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden.  

However, another high-profile candidate running was former Vice President Mike Pence, who dropped out of the race Oct. 28. Low poll numbers and financial challenges were some of the few reasons Pence dropped out of the race, according to a report from CNN.  

“After much deliberation, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president effective today,” Pence said. “Let me promise you I will never leave the fight for conservative values, and I will never stop fighting to elect principled Republican leaders in every office.”  

With months leading up to election day, Democrats will continue to support Biden as he reannounced his re-election campaign in late April.   

“When I ran for president four years ago, I said we are in a battle for the soul of America, and we still are,” Biden said via CBS News. “Let’s finish this job. I know we can because this is the United States of America, there is nothing we can’t do if we do it together.”  

Though the president’s approval rates have declined throughout his term, he is not the only Democrat who announced their bid for election. So, who could be challenging President Biden in this upcoming election? 

In March, social justice activist Marianne Williamson was the first Democrat to jump into the 2024 race, though her campaign has minor traction in the polls. Recently, in late October, Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips announced his nomination, saying that it was time for the next generation to lead among the concerns of Biden’s age.   

“Today America spends more paying our debts to the past than we are investing in our children’s future,” Philps said in a statement. “We are better, so let’s do better.”  

With 12 months left, some issues brought to the table are abortion, the economy, immigration and foreign policy. As Republican candidates are setting up for another heated GOP debate Nov. 8, it is still up in the air if Trump will show up, as he skipped the first two in August and September. 

As the year winds down and the winter months approach, the first test of voter preferences kicks off in January 2024 as Iowa will hold the first Republican caucus. Democrats will have their first primary in February in South Carolina though it is still a long way down for election season, the first Republican National Convention will begin in Milwaukee, July 15-18.   

Erik Acosta is the web and copy editor and may be reached at [email protected]