Who are the candidates running in the 2024 US presidential election?

(Reuters) -Former U.S. Representative Will Hurd on Thursday announced he would run for president, joining a growing list of Republicans seeking to unseat Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 2024 election.

Here are some of the candidates in both the Democratic and Republican parties.

REPUBLICAN PARTY

DONALD TRUMP

Trump, 77, announced his election campaign last November as he faced criticism from within his Republican Party over his support for far-right candidates who were defeated in the midterm elections. Like Biden, the former president remains unpopular with swaths of the electorate. But he has retained a firm grip on his base, even after being charged with federal crimes over his handling of national-security documents when he left office and being indicted by New York prosecutors in connection with an alleged hush money payment to a porn star. Trump is the front-runner in the Republican race.

RON DESANTIS

After the glitch-filled launch of his campaign on Twitter in May, DeSantis has positioned himself to the right of Trump on several issues. DeSantis, 44, who ranks second to Trump in most opinion polls, has already signed bills imposing new restrictions on abortion and further loosening gun laws, which may help him in the Republican primaries but would likely hurt him among independent and more moderate voters in the general election. His battle with Walt Disney Co over its Florida theme park has unnerved some donors, as has his mixed signals on continued U.S. support for Ukraine.

MIKE PENCE

Trump's vice president has broken with his former boss over the 2021 attack by Trump supporters on the U.S. Capitol, which occurred while he was inside the building. In remarks announcing his candidacy earlier this month, Pence, 64, said the then-president had asked him to choose between him and the U.S. Constitution, and Trump's former No. 2 said anyone who put themselves above the founding document should not be president. However, Pence, like other Republican White House hopefuls, came to Trump's defense after New York prosecutors charged him in the hush money case, underscoring the fear of alienating Trump's supporters in the primaries. After Trump's not-guilty plea last week in the federal documents case, Pence said he "can’t defend what is alleged." Pence, a staunch conservative, is appealing directly to the evangelical Christian community.

NIKKI HALEY

A former governor of South Carolina and ambassador to the United Nations, Haley, 51, has emphasized her relative youth compared to Biden and Trump as well as her background as the daughter of Indian immigrants. She has also pitched herself as a stalwart defender of American interests abroad. She attracts about 4% support among Republican voters.

TIM SCOTT

The only Black Republican U.S. senator has low name recognition outside his home state of South Carolina, but his optimism and focus on unifying his divided party have helped him draw a contrast with other candidates. However Scott, 57, has only 1% of support among registered Republicans, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. He launched his campaign in May.

VIVEK RAMASWAMY

A former biotechnology investor and executive, Ramaswamy, 37, started a firm in 2022 to pressure companies to abandon environmental, social and corporate governance initiatives. The political outsider has excited grassroots chatter but remains a long-shot candidate.

CHRIS CHRISTIE

The former New Jersey governor, 60, advised Trump's White House campaign in 2016 only to become a vocal critic of the former president. He formally launched his campaign earlier this month and enters as a decided underdog. Only 1% of Republicans said he would be their preferred nominee in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in May.

ASA HUTCHINSON

The former Arkansas governor launched his bid for the White House in April with a call for Trump to step aside to deal with his indictment in New York. Hutchinson, 72, has touted his experience leading the conservative Southern state, citing tax cuts and job creation initiatives. Still, his name recognition remains limited outside Arkansas.

DOUG BURGUM

Doug Burgum, who is serving his second four-year term as North Dakota's governor, launched his campaign earlier this month. Burgum, 66, built a successful software business before selling it to Microsoft in 2001. A proponent of low taxes and light regulation, he will likely seek to portray himself as a traditional conservative who will focus on the economy and national security.

FRANCIS SUAREZ

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, 45, is the only Hispanic candidate in the Republican field and the third candidate from Florida along with Trump and DeSantis. A Cuban-American, Suarez announced his campaign with a video that showed him jogging around the South Florida city where he grew up and has overseen a tech-driven economic boom during his tenure as mayor.

WILL HURD

A former undercover CIA officer, Hurd, 45, represented a southern Texas district in the U.S. House of Representatives between 2015 and 2020. For some of that time he was the only Black Republican in the chamber. Hurd, an occasional Trump critic, stressed economic issues and inclusiveness in his campaign announcement.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY

JOE BIDEN

Biden, 80, already the oldest U.S. president ever, will have to convince voters he has the stamina for another four years in the White House. Biden allies say he is running because he feels he is the only Democratic candidate who can defeat Trump. In announcing his candidacy, he declared it was his job to defend American democracy. Biden does not face a serious threat from a Democratic challenger but will have to overcome low job approval ratings.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.

An anti-vaccine activist, Kennedy, 69, is making a long-shot bid to challenge Biden for the Democratic nomination. He is the son of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 during his own presidential campaign. Kennedy was banned from YouTube and Instagram for spreading misinformation about vaccines and the COVID-19 pandemic. His Instagram account was reinstated after he said he was running.

MARIANNE WILLIAMSON

The best-selling author and self-help guru has launched her second, long-shot bid for the White House. She ran as a Democrat in the 2020 presidential primary but dropped out of the race before any votes had been cast. She launched her latest campaign in March.

(Reporting by Ross Colvin; additional reporting by Costas Pitas; Editing by Andy Sullivan, Colleen Jenkins, Nick Zieminski, Alistair Bell and Jonathan Oatis)