As 2023 comes to a close, the 2024 election is beginning to gear up, with a total of 17 candidates currently running. 

13 of those are Republican candidates: former president Donald Trump and a dozen other nominees running alongside him. The former president is ahead of all of them in the polls, which pundits say demonstrates the choke-hold that he still has on the Republican party. In fact, only eight of the other candidates qualified for the first debate, August 24.

Meanwhile, on the Democratic party’s side, there are two other candidates challenging President Biden for the 2024 campaign. Running alongside him is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – nephew to former president J.F.K. – and Marianne Williamson, a self help author in her second campaign. However, both candidates have been struggling in the polls, particularly Williamson. 

The only third-party candidate running is Cornel West, a former professor at Harvard and Princeton recognized for his intense criticism of former president Obama. But like most third-party candidates, West is having a difficult time in the polls. In the current state of the 2024 election, any chances of his success seem slim.  

Currently, former president Trump’s campaign is strong, but contention over his current lawsuits – most notably the recent Colorado case concerning consequences for the January 6 insurrection – may remove him from the ballot. 

While the country’s economy is performing well, and Biden is the leading Democratic candidate, members of the Democratic party are skeptical of his ability to carry out a second term, citing his age.