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The first Republican primary debate won’t occur until August. The first primaries and caucuses won’t occur until early next year.
But the 2024 presidential primary campaign is well underway.
There’s a growing field of declared candidates who will begin traveling around early primary states, appearing in interviews and jockeying for attention. Super PACs aligned with their interests are already doing battle on the airwaves.
Here are the currently declared Republican presidential candidates, sorted by their place in the most recent CNN poll of the potential GOP primary electorate.
Donald Trump
President Donald Trump waits to speak at a 9/11 memorial service in September 2017.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
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In pictures: Former President Donald Trump
Announced campaign: November 2022
The divisive former president is the prohibitive Republican frontrunner despite his efforts to overturn the 2020 election he lost. The primary is just getting going and there won’t be any voting until early 2024, but Trump has worked hard to kneecap his top current rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
A major complication for Trump is his legal uncertainty. His criminal trial in New York for alleged involvement in a hush-money payment scheme before the 2016 election will get underway in tandem with voting in the 2024 primary.
He could face additional charges, both at the federal level and in Fulton County, Georgia. But those investigations have been ongoing for years now, and it’s not clear any allegations will hurt his strength among many Republican voters.
Ron DeSantis
SANFORD, FL - OCTOBER 12: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis arrives before President Donald J. Trump arrives to speak during a campaign "Make America Great Again Event" at the Orlando Sanford International Airport on Monday, Oct 12, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images
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In pictures: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
Announced campaign: May 2023
While Trump and his supporters got to work hammering DeSantis with TV ads, the Florida governor was at work building an argument in his home state.
Riding high from an overwhelming reelection victory in 2022, DeSantis used a GOP majority in the Florida legislature to enact measures related to curbing access to abortion, ending educational diversity initiatives, curbing LGBTQ rights and more.
While he lacks Trump’s baggage on the legal front, DeSantis also lacks Trump’s personality. Plus, his standoff with Disney over a bill to limit when sexual orientation and gender identity can be discussed in schools has not gone as DeSantis might have planned.
Mike Pence
Vice President Mike Pence speaks during an event on the creation of a United States Space Force, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018, at the Pentagon. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Evan Vucci/AP
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In photos: Former Vice President Mike Pence
Announced campaign: June 2023
As Trump’s vice president, Pence refused to sidestep the Constitution and help Trump overturn the 2020 election results. While Pence’s profile in courage placed him in the physical path of January 6, 2021, insurrectionists storming the Capitol, it also could complicate his run for president.
He’ll be challenging his former boss but has tried very hard not to be too critical of Trump. Pence will try, in particular, to appeal to evangelical voters, who for years have formed a reliable base for the GOP.
Nikki Haley
FILE -- Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina, at the State House in Columbia, Oct. 25, 2016. Haley, a rising star in the Republican establishment, endorsed Sen. Marco Rubio during the primaries; now she is set to be Donald Trump's envoy to the United Nations. (Travis Dove/The New York Times)
Travis Dove/The New York Times/Redux
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In pictures: Nikki Haley's career in politics
Announced campaign: February 2023
Haley has a stellar resume. Elected governor of a Southern state and selected as Trump’s first ambassador to the United Nations, she would be the first woman and first non-White Republican nominee if she can somehow emerge with the nomination.
Much younger than Trump or President Joe Biden, Haley has made age a centerpiece of her campaign and argued for some kind of age-based competency test – an interesting idea in terms of scoring points against older candidates, but also a potential turnoff for primary voters in a party that skews older.
Tim Scott
Senator Tim Scott listens as Rubio delivers his speech to RB Stall High School Friday, February 19, 2016 in North Charleston, South Carolina.
Alex Holt/The Washington Post/Getty Images
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In pictures: Presidential candidate Tim Scott
Announced campaign: May 2023
The South Carolina senator is the only Black Republican in the US Senate. He has built the rarity of his biography to argue he disrupts the narrative of American politics.
Although appealing to conservatives, Scott has a record of actually working across party lines on police reform and more. But Trump, at least, has not viewed him as a threat. The former president, who has mercilessly attacked DeSantis, congratulated Scott on entering the race.
Chris Christie
MCLEAN, VIRGINIA - MAY 1: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie addresses VA Consumer Electronics Association during a Leadership Series discussion at the Ritz-Carlton on May 1, 2015 in McLean, Virginia. The potential 2016 presidential candidate is expected to plead guilty in federal court today in conjunction with mishandling of the Washington Bridge from 2013. (Photo by Olivier Douliery/Getty Images)
Olivier Douliery/Getty Images
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In pictures: Presidential candidate Chris Christie
Announced campaign: June 2023
A former New Jersey governor and onetime Trump cheerleader, Christie had a falling out with Trump over Covid-19 – Christie was extremely ill after potentially contracting the virus at the White House – as well as the January 6, 2021, insurrection.
He now wants to focus the skills he honed as a US attorney on Trump and make an appeal as the Republican who can win the general election. Convincing the hard-line base of the party will be difficult for a person viewed more as a moderate.
Vivek Ramaswamy
Vivek Ramaswamy speaks during the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition Spring Kick-Off in April 2023.
Charlie Neibergall/AP/FILE
Announced campaign: February 2023
A biotech and health care entrepreneur who also writes books opposing corporate “wokeism” and identity politics, Ramaswamy is a long-shot candidate unknown by most Americans.
RELATED: Ramaswamy would raise the voting age to 25
Asa Hutchinson
Arkansan Governor Asa Hutchinson at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, July 19, 2016.
Malin Fezehai/Redux
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In pictures: Presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson
Announced campaign: April 2023
The former Arkansas governor and congressman announced his campaign arguing against isolationism and for civility in campaigning. Those messages have not yet caught on in polling.
RELATED: Hutchinson promises to be Trump alternative
Doug Burgum Announced campaign: June 2023
A virtual unknown nationally, the North Dakota governor registers in the single digits in CNN’s most recent poll. Building his wealth from a software company he bet the family farm to start, Burgum wants to be a business-oriented alternative and will point to his record as governor.
Burgum announced his campaign in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. Like most GOP candidates, he will struggle to find oxygen in a field that so far has been dominated by Trump.
Larry Elder
Larry Elder in 2021, when he was running unsuccessfully for governor of California.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Announced campaign: April 2023
The conservative talk radio host has never held elective office, but he was the top Republican vote-getter in the unsuccessful 2021 effort to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Opting out New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu and former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan had both openly flirted with a potential run, but both have said they will not run.
Polling shows Trump over DeSantis at this very early moment DeSantis (26%) is a distant second to Trump (53%), according to the CNN poll conducted nationally by SSRS of Republican and Republican-leaning voters and released in late May.
Both Pence and Haley got 6% support as the top pick.
Who could the GOP electorate support? Not support? There are some interesting points as you drill into that polling data, as CNN’s political director David Chalian explained on “Inside Politics.”
“We asked people, in addition to your first choice, who would you be open to supporting in this race,” Chalian said.
The results – current top choice plus who they would consider supporting – are a bit different:
DeSantis: 85%. Trump: 84%. Haley: 61%. Scott: 60%. Pence: 54%.
That’s good news for those candidates, Chalian argued. It’s bad news, on the flip side, for people who a majority of Republican and Republican-leaning voters said they would not support:
Christie: 60% would not support. Hutchinson: 55%. Sununu: 55%.
Note that those top three in the “would not support” list – of whom only Hutchinson has declared an official run – are the more moderate voices in the party.
Look at the movement Chalian also looked at the trajectory of candidates in the polling numbers.
Trump has gained, from 40% support in the potential GOP primary electorate in March to 53% now.
DeSantis, before he formally declared his campaign, has fallen, from 36% support in March to 26% now.
That could mean the Republican race will ultimately be a test of who can take on Trump.
This story has been updated with additional information.