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By Victor Reklaitis

Democrats largely close ranks behind Joe Biden for 2024, but Marianne Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are challenging the president

The 2024 Republican presidential field stands at a dozen relatively well-known contenders, having grown crowded in June as five candidates officially announced their White House runs.

Former U.S. Rep. Will Hurd of Texas entered the race on June 22, following Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who launched his bid on June 14.

In early June, former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and current North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum all formally kicked off their campaigns.

Meanwhile, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in May that he won't be on the presidential campaign trail in 2023 because of elections for his state's legislature in November, but he appears to have left the door open for a 2024 White House run.

In the latest polls of Republican primary voters, former President Donald Trump has a big lead, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis a distant second.

Below is MarketWatch's list of Republican presidential contenders and the status of their candidacies.

The first official debate of the GOP presidential primary is slated to be held in Milwaukee on Wednesday night. The party's White House hopefuls will to try to chip away at Trump's big advantage in their race, even as the frontrunner himself said he'll skip the debate.

Read more:Non-Trump Republican presidential candidates to try for 'breakout moment' in this week's debate

And see:Republican presidential debate: What time it starts, how to watch and more

The second debate is scheduled to take place Sept. 27 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, and the Republican Party has raised the qualification bar for that event.

Trump has grabbed the spotlight throughout August thanks to his widely followed indictments in Washington, D.C., and Georgia's Fulton County in election-interference cases tied to his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential race's result. He has denied wrongdoing and argued the charges are politically motivated, as he did with his spring indictments in a hush-money case and a classified-documents case.

Related:Trump's PAC has spent $40 million on legal fees so far this year

And see: How DeSantis is leading Trump in cash on hand, even as the former president dominates in polls

On the Democratic side, President Joe Biden officially launched his re-election campaign in April, even as most Americans don't approve of his performance. The president has been talking up the strong job market and his legislative record.

In addition to the relatively high-profile names on the list above, there are some lesser-known GOP presidential hopefuls as well, such as Aaron Day, who is known in part for his 2016 run against former Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, a fellow Republican; Perry Johnson, a former gubernatorial candidate in Michigan; Steve Laffey, a former mayor of Cranston, R.I.; and former Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton.

A number of other Republican politicians have been talked about as potential 2024 contenders but have not said they are running. That group includes Texas Gov. Greg Abbott; John Bolton, a former national-security adviser and former ambassador to the United Nations; and former Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who has run an ad in New Hampshire, a key state.

Among the prominent Republicans who have said they're not seeking their party's presidential nomination in 2024 are Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu.

From MarketWatch's archives (September 2022): In a conversation with MarketWatch, Vivek Ramaswamy says companies should 'leave politics to the politicians'

Democrats are largely closing ranks behind Biden, although author and activist Marianne Williamson has said she's seeking the party's nomination again and vigorously defended her decision to challenge the president in an extensive question-and-answer session with MarketWatch. Antivaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is also mounting a long-shot challenge to Biden and held a kickoff event for his campaign in April. And Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota has said he's being urged to consider a White House run.

Among third-party candidacies, Cornel West, a former Ivy League professor now at Union Theological Seminary, has announced that he's a presidential candidate for the People's Party and that he's seeking the Green Party's nomination. In addition, a group called No Labels has been considering a "unity ticket" for 2024, saying that a rematch between Biden and Trump would be "the sequel that no one asked for," but a Politico report said the group would not submit a third-party challenger if DeSantis becomes the Republican nominee.

Now read:Nikki Haley says 'no Republican president will have the ability to ban abortion nationwide'

And see: Biden's age is figuring 'prominently' in the 2024 White House race -- but here's what the pundits could be getting wrong

Plus:Billionaire investor Bill Ackman says JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon should run for president

MarketWatch's Robert Schroeder contributed to this article.

-Victor Reklaitis

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

08-21-23 1611ET

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Here are the Republicans running for president in 2024, as their first ... - Morningstar