Donald Trump’s running mate in 2024: Who could it be?

As the 2024 presidential election nears and states attempting to remove his name from the ballots, the political landscape still buzzes with speculation about who might be the running mate for former President Donald Trump.

Let’s explore the potential candidates for Trump’s running mate in 2024 and analyze the implications of each of the partnerships.

Related:

Mary Trump says Donald Trump should be sued for spreading the same lies as Rudy Giuliani

The former president’s niece claims he defamed the election workers at least 23 times.

The road to 2024 Elections

Your LGBTQ+ guide to Election 2024

Stay ahead of the 2024 Election with our newsletter that covers candidates, issues, and perspectives that matter.

Daily

Weekly

Good News

Throughout most of the Republican presidential primary, Trump has faced 91 combined felony criminal charges in D.C., New York, and Georgia. Despite not participating in GOP primary debates, Trump has dominated the national polls. He leads his opponents by 30% to 50%, making him the presumptive presidential nominee, even months before the first GOP primary elections in Iowa and New Hampshire.

If Trump wins the first primaries, then 2024 will likely become a repeat of 2020, with Trump facing off against President Joe Biden. As such, Trump will need to pick a vice presidential running mate who’ll help him win key moderate and swing state voters who might otherwise dislike Trump’s chaotic bluster and numerous political scandals.

Possible vice presidential candidates for the Trump ticket

In recent years, one of the most closely watched races has been for the vice presidency, as they serve not only as a backup to the president but also play a crucial role in their administration. Here are some of the top contenders for Trump and some of the reasons why they may be chosen.

Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD)

Noem and Trump have both said that they’d consider each other as running mates. She has publicly criticized his criminal indictments and supports his political stances on tax cuts for the wealthy and restrictions on abortion and transgender rights. But she doesn’t represent a swing state, limiting her ability to possibly attract voters who don’t already support Trump.

Failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake

Lake has largely imitated Trump: She’s a former TV personality who has criticized the media and his indictments and repeated his baseless claim of the 2020 presidential election being stolen. But while Arizona is a swing state, she has never won an election there, possibly limiting her influence in the region.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)

Scott and Trump avoided criticizing each other during Scott’s short-lived 2024 presidential campaign, and Scott also helped develop “opportunity zone” funding for low-income areas as part of Trump’s 2017 tax cut package. While South Carolina isn’t a swing state, Scott’s Black and Christian identities — and his fundraising savvy — could help sell Trump to religious communities and voters of color.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley

Despite having served as Trump’s U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Trump and Nikki Haley have traded criticism since she started running against him. While they differ on issues, like funding Ukraine’s fight against Russia, her increasing popularity amongst women, moderates, and people of color could help Trump attract voters who’d otherwise avoid him.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY)

Stefanik has long supported Trump and targeted his legal opponents. But while her youth and gender could help win younger, female voters, her being from New York isn’t likely to lure the region’s traditionally Democratic voters into supporting Trump.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL)

DeSantis has predictably said that he wouldn’t serve as Trump’s running mate, but he has also been careful not to criticize Trump too sharply while on the campaign trail. Despite hailing from a swing state and following Trump’s strongman political style, his lack of public charisma and complete loyalty to Trump may cause the former president to overlook him.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)

Greene has supported Trump by stumping on the campaign trail for him, steadfastly supporting his stolen election claims, and criticizing Trump’s legal opponents while pushing for an impeachment inquiry against current President Joe Biden. But while her home state of Georgia is a swing state, she’s nationally known as perhaps the most far-right congress member, potentially turning off swing voters who’d prefer a mitigating force on Trump’s team.

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy

Ramaswamy has repeatedly praised Trump as the “best president of the 21st century,” and Trump has said Ramaswamy would “be very good” as a possible running mate. But Ramaswamy’s lack of political experience and his willingness to resort to degrading personal insults against his opponents and far-right conspiracy theories have made him largely repellant to swing voters that Trump needs to charm.

Former Vice President Mike Pence

In 2016, Pence provided gravitas, political experience, and conservative Christian credentials that Trump needed to win the presidency. However, the two reportedly haven’t spoken much since the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection, and Trump blames Pence for not helping overturn the 2020 election results in Trump’s favor, making him a highly unlikely pick for Trump’s vice president a second time around.

Public opinion on Trump’s potential VP pick

Public opinion polls have shown that most Trump supporters want him to pick Gov. DeSantis as his running mate: 25% of respondents in a December 2023 Newsweek poll and 14% of respondents in a January 2024 USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll chose DeSantis.

The Newsweek poll showed that 19% favored Haley, 16% favored Ramaswamy, and 8% favored Lake for Trump’s vice president. Comparatively, the USA Today poll showed that 10% of respondents favored Ramaswamy, 7% favored Haley, 2% favored independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and 1% favored Gov. Noem and former Fox News host Tucker Carson as possible running mates.

I like Governor Ron DeSantis, but I don't think President Trump is considering him for Vice President at the moment. https://t.co/bGbhtsoQ3f

— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) December 29, 2023

Haley isn't Marjorie Taylor Green. She is much worse. Idiots are excused for stupidity . Haley has no excuse. Positioning herself to be Trump's running mate is not an excuse. And besides, Trump is unlikely to share the ticket with a non white or a woman. https://t.co/DsCHI7mW0l

— Charles Adler (@charlesadler) December 30, 2023

I think President Trump should pick Dr. Ben Carson for Vice President.

It would be a dynamic relationship and he wouldn’t be picking his successor for 2028 either. pic.twitter.com/O37effLyXm

— Matt Schlapp (@mschlapp) December 27, 2023

All I want for Christmas is Tucker Carlson as Trump's Vice President!

— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) December 25, 2023

Why Ron DeSantis won’t consider joining Trump as his running mate

Even though DeSantis has long placed second behind Trump in the national polls, DeSantis’s campaign has repeatedly said that he’s not interested in being Trump’s vice presidential pick. In this way, he differs from Haley and Ramaswamy, both of whom have expressed openness to being Trump’s running mate.

“Ron DeSantis has made very clear he’s in this to be president of the United States and not to be somebody to do things for the American people,” DeSantis campaign spokesperson Carly Atchinson said on Newsmax. “If Donald Trump wants to be the vice president, maybe we could talk about that, but Ron DeSantis is running to be president. He’s not running to be vice president or serve in somebody’s cabinet.”

The role of vice presidential candidates in campaign strategy

Presidential candidates often choose running mates that can increase the ticket’s electability. So presidential nominees tend to select a vice presidential nominee who can balance the ticket by representing key ideological, geographic, or demographic identities (such as being a different social class, race, or from a different region of the U.S.) or improving the presidential candidates’ perceived capacity for governance.

Often, presidential candidates will choose running mates who demonstrate loyalty, who have connections to voters and donors from different backgrounds, or who have different governing experiences and social values to help round out the ticket’s political resume. A VP pick can also help heal a party after a long primary by showing that different political views are still embraced.

Because VP selection also represents the presidential candidates’ first “official” decision, their running mate can signal to voters that the president will heed the interests of the VP’s constituents, possibly choosing Cabinet, judicial, and other key federal agency positions that represent their agendas. The vice presidential pick often serves as the presidential nominee’s cheerleader and attack dog for the rest of the election season, exciting voters about the ticket and defending their running mate from criticisms.

Comparisons to past elections

It’s largely thought that Trump chose his 2016 running mate, then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R), as a way to attract evangelical voters and conservatives who disliked Trump’s brash style. Trump said he chose Pence to encourage “party unity.” It didn’t hurt that Pence had some actual governing experience and pre-existing relationships with powerful donors, especially since Trump had largely positioned himself as a political “outsider” from the worlds of business and television.

However, during Trump’s four years as president, he largely won over evangelical Christians and conservatives by championing culture war issues — like overturning abortion rights, championing “religious freedom,” cutting taxes on the wealthy, and demonizing transgender people. As such, his vice presidential pick will be less about winning over these groups and more about establishing more moderate gravitas to counterbalance Trump’s strongman political persona.

Closing thoughts

A majority of the Republican party has decided to overlook Trump’s criminal indictments, his racism, his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, and his willingness to stoke political violence and embrace him as their leader and presumptive presidential nominee.

Some Republicans have accused their political party members of embracing Trump as a cynical way to protect their own re-election chances or to avoid death threats from overzealous Trump followers. Regardless, one can expect his critics to increasingly fade as his eventual vice presidential nominee draws attention away from Trump’s anti-democratic behavior while generating excitement about how a second Trump presidency would help crystallize conservatism in the U.S. for decades to come.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter to stay updated on the latest news, events, and resources for the LGBTQ+ community and the 2024 election.