Key dates in the 2024 presidential election

Depending on how you look at it, our entry into 2024 is either long overdue, or wildly ahead of schedule. For those who have dreaded this moment, 2024 marks the moment in which the presidential election begins in earnest, relegating last year's frustrations and acrimonious jockeying to the role of mere appetizer ahead of the upcoming main course. To those who welcome the onset of 2024, the reason is largely the same — just with a positive spin to it.

Wherever you fall along this spectrum of optimism and dread, there's no denying that with 2023 fully in our collective rearview mirror, the year ahead will be in large part defined by the race to either continue or supplant President Joe Biden's administration for the remaining bulk of the decade. While early and mail-in voting laws have largely made the notion of a single election "day" an obsolete throwback to simpler times, we nevertheless look to "the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November" as the culmination point of the year's (or two, or three or four's) frenetic politicking.

This year, election day lands on Nov. 5 — just 10 months away. And in the interim comes the nuts and bolts that ultimately decide who will be the next president of the United States. There are primaries and caucuses and conventions and — if you're current Republican frontrunner Donald Trump — a host of scheduled court appearances that will eventually ossify into the final vote. It can all seem a bit overwhelming, but here are the important dates to remember (and remember, as the Federal Election Commission warns: "the dates listed are tentative and subject to change").

January

15: Iowa caucus (Republicans)
23: New Hampshire primary

February

3: South Carolina primary (Democrats)
6: Nevada primary
8: Nevada caucus (Republicans)
8: U.S. Virgin Islands caucus (Republicans)
24: South Carolina primary (Republicans)
27: Michigan primary

March

2: Idaho caucus (Republicans)
2: Missouri caucus (Republicans)
4: North Dakota caucus (Republicans)
4: Donald Trump's Jan. 6-related trial in D.C. scheduled to begin (pending)
5: Alabama primary
5: Alaska caucus (Republicans)
5: American Samoa caucus (Democrats)
5: Arkansas primary
5: California primary
5: Colorado primary
5: Iowa caucus (Democrats)
5: Maine primary
5: Massachusetts primary
5: Minnesota primary
5: North Carolina primary
5: Oklahoma primary
5: Tennessee primary
5: Texas primary
5: Utah primary
5: Vermont primary
5: Virginia primary
12: Georgia primary
12: Hawaii caucus (Republicans)
12: Mississippi primary
12: North Mariana Islands primary (Democrats)
12: Washington primary
17: Puerto Rico primary (Democrats)
19: Arizona primary
19: Florida primary
19: Illinois primary
19: Kansas primary
19: Ohio primary
23: Louisiana primary
23: Missouri primary (Democrats)
25: Donald Trump's hush money trial in New York scheduled to begin

April

2: Connecticut primary
2: Delaware primary
2: New York primary
2: Rhode Island primary
2: Wisconsin primary
6: Alaska primary (Democrats)
6: Hawaii primary (Democrats)
6: North Dakota primary (Democrats)
13: Wyoming caucus (Democrats)
20: Wyoming caucus (Republicans)
23: Pennsylvania primary

May

7: Indiana primary
14: Maryland primary
14: Nebraska primary
14: West Virginia primary
20: Donald Trump's classified documents trial in Florida scheduled to begin
21: Kentucky primary
21: Oregon primary
23: Idaho caucus (Democrats)

June

4: Washington, D.C. primary
4: Montana primary
4: New Jersey primary
4: New Mexico primary
4: South Dakota primary
8: Guam caucus (Democrats)

July

15: Republican National Convention in Milwaukee opens
18: Republican National Convention in Milwaukee closes

August

5: Proposed date for Donald Trump's racketeering trial in Georgia (pending)
19: Democratic National Convention in Chicago opens
22: Democratic National Convention in Chicago closes

September

15: First presidential debate — San Marcos, Texas
25: Vice presidential debate — Easton, Pennsylvania

October

1: Second presidential debate — Petersburg, Virginia
9: Third presidential debate — Salt Lake City, Utah

November

5: Election day

December

17: State electors vote for president and vice president