This article lists potential candidates for the Republican nomination for

vice president of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice p ...

in the 2024 election. Former president

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

, the 2024 Republican presumptive nominee for

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

, will choose his running mate at some point before the

2024 Republican National Convention The 2024 Republican National Convention is an event in which delegates of the United States Republican Party will select the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2024 United States presidential election. It is planned to b ...

Background

Multiple reporters, political analysts and commentators have noted that former president

selecting former vice president

Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, ...

to be his running mate once again would be highly unlikely following rifts between the two over the future of the Republican Party and Pence's attempts to distance himself from Trump. In June 2022, the

House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack The United States House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (the January 6th Committee) is a bipartisan select committee of the U.S. House of Representatives established to investigate the U.S. C ...

found that Trump said Pence "deserved" calls to be hanged on the day of the attack. Pence has stated that he has no interest in seeking the vice presidential nomination again. Trump's anticipated status as the

presumptive nominee In United States politics and government, the term presidential nominee has two different meanings: # A candidate for president of the United States who has been selected by the delegates of a political party at the party's national convention (a ...

was solidified upon his victories in the Super Tuesday primaries, which saw

Nikki Haley Nimrata Nikki Haley ( née Randhawa; born January 20, 1972) is an American diplomat and politician who served as the 116th and first female governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017, and as the 29th United States ambassador to the United N ...

, his last remaining opposition, drop out the following day. Haley refused to endorse Trump, leaving her out of consideration in the view of multiple news and media outlets. Trump became the presumptive nominee on March 12. Under the 12th amendment, because Trump currently resides in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

, if Trump's running mate also resided in Florida, Florida's electors could not vote for both Trump and his running mate in the electoral college.

Reported shortlist

Trump's criteria for his running mate is primarily loyalty, according to multiple sources. In early 2024, Trump was reportedly encouraged to consider a woman or black man as his running mate. Trump initially acknowledged a total of six names on his vice presidential shortlist at a

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ...

townhall with

Laura Ingraham Laura Anne Ingraham (born June 19, 1963) is an American conservative television host. Gale Biography In Context. She has been the host of '' The Ingraham Angle'' on Fox News Channel since October 2017, and is the editor-in-chief of LifeZette ...

in February 2024. Of those six, Florida Governor

Ron DeSantis Ronald Dion DeSantis (; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician serving as the 46th governor of Florida since January 2019. A member of the Republican Party, DeSantis represented Florida's 6th district in the U.S. House of Represe ...

has since declined to be considered, while primary opponent

Vivek Ramaswamy Vivek Ramaswamy (born August 9, 1985) is an American entrepreneur in the healthcare and technology sectors, a political commentator, and a ''New York Times'' bestselling author. In 2022, he founded Strive Asset Management and currently serves as t ...

was ruled out as a potential pick by Trump the following month. The remaining four are listed here: File:Rep. Byron Donalds official photo, 117th Congress (cropped).jpg, File:Tulsi Gabbard by Gage Skidmore (crop).jpg, alt=Former Representative Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii (2013–2021)(independent), File:Noem Portrait 2 (cropped 2).jpg, File:Tim Scott, official portrait, 113th Congress (cropped).jpg, alt=SenatorTim Scott from South Carolina (2013–present), That March, Trump estimated that there were a total of 15 people on his shortlist in an interview with

Newsmax Newsmax (Newsmax Media, Inc. or Newsmax.com, previously styled NewsMax) is an American right-wing to far-right cable news and digital media company founded by Christopher Ruddy on September 16, 1998. Newsmax Media divisions include its cable ...

. Three additional names were reported to have been revealed: File:Ben Carson official portrait.jpg, File:Senator Rubio official portrait (cropped)1.jpg, File:Elise Stefanik, 115th official photo (1).jpg, alt=,

Media speculation about possible running mates

Several individuals have received speculation about possible selection as vice presidential nominee in 2024 including

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Glenn Youngkin Glenn Allen Youngkin (born December 9, 1966) is an American businessman and politician, currently serving as the 74th governor of Virginia since January 15, 2022. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Youngkin defea ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

, Senator

Ted Cruz Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Kim Reynolds Kimberly Kay Reynolds (née Strawn; born August 4, 1959) is an American politician serving as the 43rd governor of Iowa since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, Reynolds served as the 46th lieutenant governor of Iowa from 2011 to 2017. Befo ...

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

, Senator

Joni Ernst Joni Kay Ernst (née Culver; born July 1, 1970) is an American former military officer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Iowa since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served in the Iowa State S ...

of Iowa, Senator

Rick Scott Richard Lynn Scott ( Myers, born December 1, 1952) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 45th governor of Florida from 2011 to 2019. Scott ...

of Florida, and

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Jeanette Nuñez Jeanette Marie Nuñez (born June 6, 1972) is an American businesswoman and politician serving as the 20th lieutenant governor of Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she represented Miami-Dade County in the Florida House of Rep ...

of Florida. Reportedly in 2022, Trump had "repeatedly" discussed the possibility of choosing

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

Marjorie Taylor Greene Marjorie Taylor Greene (born May 27, 1974), also known by her initials MTG, is an American politician, businesswoman, and far-right conspiracy theorist Sources describing Greene as "far-right" include: * * * * * * * * * who has served as the ...

as his running mate. Greene also claimed that she had been in talks with Trump to become his running mate. On March 6, 2023, multiple sources close to Trump, as reported by

Axios Axios commonly refers to: * Axios (river), a river that runs through Greece and North Macedonia * ''Axios'' (website), an American news and information website Axios may also refer to: Brands and enterprises * Axios, a brand of suspension produc ...

, narrowed the list down to four major contenders. These were Haley; Governor

Sarah Huckabee Sanders Sarah Elizabeth Huckabee Sanders (born August 13, 1982) is an American former political spokesperson and the governor-elect of Arkansas. She was the 31st White House press secretary, serving under President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2019. She ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the ...

, former White House press secretary for Trump, who has received media attention for her executive orders; Governor

Kristi Noem Kristi Lynn Noem (; née Arnold; born November 30, 1971) is an American politician serving as the 33rd governor of South Dakota since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she was the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2019 and a member ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

; and

Kari Lake Kari Ann Lake ( ; born August 23, 1969) is an American former television news anchor who was the Republican nominee in the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election. Beginning her media career in the early 1990s, Lake was the anchor for the Phoenix ...

, candidate for Arizona governor in 2022 who lost narrowly to

Katie Hobbs Kathleen Marie Hobbs (born December 28, 1969) is an American politician and social worker who is the governor-elect of Arizona, having been elected in 2022. She has served as the 21st secretary of state of Arizona since 2019. A member of the ...

. On July 3, 2023,

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

reported that sources close to Sanders said that she is not interested in being chosen as the vice presidential nominee as "she intends to serve as governor for eight years." According to Axios, Trump's major factor in the race is loyalty, something he sees strongly in Lake given her reiterations of the claims of a stolen 2020 election. On August 24, 2023, Trump in a media interview, mentioned

Henry McMaster Henry Dargan McMaster (born May 27, 1947) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 117th governor of South Carolina since January 24, 2017. He is a member of the Republican Party. McMaster worked for U.S. senator Strom Thurmond, i ...

, Vivek Ramaswamy and Kristi Noem as his potential vice president picks. Ron DeSantis, Governor of Florida, stated on July 15 that he would be open to selecting Reynolds as his running mate, if he won the Republican nomination. However, on July 17, Reynolds stated that she was not interested in being DeSantis' running mate. On September 20, 2023, Tim Scott mentioned

Mike Pompeo Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American politician, diplomat, and businessman who served under President Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2017 to 2018 and as the 70th United State ...

Chris Sununu Christopher Thomas Sununu ( ; born November 5, 1974) is an American politician and engineer who has served as the 82nd governor of New Hampshire since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, Sununu was a member of the New Hampshire Executive Cou ...

Trey Gowdy Harold Watson "Trey" Gowdy III (born August 22, 1964) is an American television news personality, former politician, and former federal prosecutor who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2019. His district included much of the Ups ...

and

John Ratcliffe John Ratcliffe or John Ratcliff may refer to: Politicians *John Ratcliffe (American politician), former Director of National Intelligence, former congressman in Texas' 4th Congressional District, and former U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of ...

as potential vice president picks when asked by an audience member at a campaign stop in New Hampshire.

Federal executive branch officials

File:Richard Grenell official portrait (cropped).jpg, File:Mark Meadows 2018.jpg, File:Mike Pompeo official photo (cropped).jpg, File:John Ratcliffe official photo.jpg, , alt=Former Director of National IntelligenceJohn Ratcliffeof Texas(2020–2021)

Members of Congress

File:Marsha Blackburn, official photo, 116th Congress (cropped).jpg, File:Katie Britt (cropped).jpg, File:Tom Cotton official Senate photo.jpg, File:Ted Cruz senatorial portrait.jpg, File:Joni Ernst, official portrait, 116th Congress 3 (cropped).jpg, File:U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, Official Photo, 113th Congress.jpg, File:Trey Gowdy, official portrait, 115th Congress (cropped).jpg, File:Marjorie Taylor Greene 117th Congress portrait (cropped) v2.jpeg, File:Wesley Hunt, official portrait, 118th Congress (cropped).jpg, File:Nancy Mace (cropped).jpg, File:Rand Paul, official portrait, 112th Congress alternate (1).jpg, File:Official Portrait of Senator Rick Scott (R-FL).jpg, File:Tommy Tuberville, official portrait, 118th Congress (slight crop).jpg, File:Congressman Jeff Van Drew.jpg, File:Senator Vance official portrait. 118th Congress.jpg, File:Lee Zeldin new official portrait.jpg,

Governors

File:Governor Doug Burgum.jpg, File:Governor Henry McMaster.jpg, File:Sarah Palin (51769866572) (cropped).jpg, File:Kim Reynolds (53129996491) (cropped).jpg, File:Sarah Huckabee Sanders (1).jpg, File:Youngkin Governor Portrait.jpg,

Others

File:Dan Bongino 2023 by Gage Skidmore.jpg, File:Tucker Carlson (53067283901) (cropped).jpg, File:Michael T Flynn.jpg, alt=Former United States National Security AdvisorMike Flynn from Maryland, File:Kimberly Guilfoyle 2023 by Gage Skidmore.jpg, File:Kari Lake by Gage Skidmore 3.jpg, File:Mike Lindell 2023 by Gage Skidmore.jpg, File:Ronna McDaniel.jpg, alt=Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDanielfrom Michigan (2017–present), File:Stephen miller june 2016 cropped corrected.jpg, File:3I3A3929 (cropped).jpg, File:Francis Suarez by Gage Skidmore.jpg, File:Herschel Walker 130515-D-DB155-044 (8749868178).jpg,

Declined to be considered

Before the primaries

File:Mike Pence official Vice Presidential portrait.jpg, alt=, File:GOV SUNUNU OFFICIAL PHOTO.jpg, alt=,

During the primaries

File:Greg Abbott 2015.jpg, File:Ron DeSantis (53454825868)(crop - tilted).jpg, File:Nikki Haley by Gage Skidmore 5.jpg, File:Josh Hawley, official portrait, 116th congress.jpg, File:Robert F. Kennedy Jr. by Gage Skidmore.jpg, alt=Environmental lawyer, author and 2024 independent candidate for president of the United States in Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from California,

Ruled out by Trump

File:Vivek Ramaswamy by Gage Skidmore.jpg,

Opinion polling

In March 2023, the

Conservative Political Action Conference The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC; ) is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States and beyond. CPAC is hosted by the American Conservative Union (ACU) ...

(CPAC) held a poll on vice president,

topped the poll with 20%,

on 14% and

on 10%. Turning Point Action held a straw poll in July 2023 where Lake finished first with 30%,

Byron Donalds Byron Lowell Donalds (born October 28, 1978) is an American politician and businessman serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Florida's 19th congressional district since 2021. His district serves most of th ...

in second with 24%, and

in third with 22%. The vice presidential straw poll held at CPAC in February 2024 saw Ramaswamy and

tied for first place with 15% each, with

Tulsi Gabbard Tulsi Gabbard (; born April 12, 1981) is an American politician, United States Army Reserve officer and political commentator who served as the U.S. representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021. Gabbard was the fi ...

at second with 9%, followed by

Elise Stefanik Elise Marie Stefanik (; born July 2, 1984) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2015. As chair of the House Republican Conference since 2021, she is the third-ranking House Republican. Stefanik's district cover ...

and

Tim Scott Timothy Eugene Scott (born September 19, 1965) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator from South Carolina since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Scott was appointed to the U.S. Senate by Go ...

with 8%. Donalds and Lake received 7% and 6% respectively, while DeSantis,

, and

Ben Carson Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. (born September 18, 1951) is an American retired neurosurgeon and politician who served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017 to 2021. A pioneer in the field of neurosurgery, ...

each earned 5% of the vote. Other candidates listed who did not reach 5% were Haley,

Tucker Carlson Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson (born May 16, 1969) is an American television host, Conservatism in the United States, conservative Pundit, political commentator and writer who has hosted the nightly political talk show ''Tucker Carlson Tonight ...

, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and J. D. Vance.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Republican Party vice presidential candidate selection, 2024 Greg Abbott Tucker Carlson Ted Cruz Ron DeSantis Nikki Haley Rand Paul Mike Pence Marco Rubio Vice presidency of the United States Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees