Who are the Republican candidates? What to know ahead of the Iowa Caucuses

Iowans are braving the one of the coldest caucus days on record to support their preferred Republican presidential candidate.

The Iowa Caucuses are a big first contest to see who may fly and who may flounder in the 2024 presidential primary race. Check out the USA TODAY Network's list of the Republican candidates hoping to make headway with voters in the Hawkeye State Monday night.

You can also learn more about candidates' and where they stand on key issues in the USA TODAY Network's 2024 voting guide.

More: Who will win the Iowa Caucuses? 6 GOP candidates' path to victory ‒ or defeat ‒ on Jan. 15

More: Who are the 2024 presidential candidates? These are the Republicans and Democrats running.

Who is left in the Republican primary?

There are six candidates left in the Republican party, dwindled down from more than a dozen who threw their hat in the ring. Some White House hopefuls who have dropped out include former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.

The candidates who remain are:

• Former President Donald Trump

• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

• Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley

• Entrepreneur and author Vivek Ramaswamy

• Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson

• Texas business executive and pastor Ryan Binkley

Texas business executive and pastor Ryan Binkley

Binkley, 56, is CEO, president, and co-founder of the mergers and acquisitions conglomerate Generational Group. He is also a faith leader, co-founding and serving as the pastor at Create Church in Richardson, Texas.

He announced his White House bid in April 2023, and he told the Des Moines Register he believed he could carve a lane in the GOP primary to prioritize unity and potential bipartisanship on financial, immigration and health care policy.

See Binkley's approach to key issues like climate change, education and health care in the USA TODAY Network's voting guide.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

DeSantis, 45, currently serves as the 46th governor of Florida. While in law school, DeSantis joined the U.S. Navy as a JAG officer, later deploying to Iraq for active duty. Before his run for governor, he served in the House of Representatives as a congressman for Florida's 6th district for three terms from 2013 to 2018.

He entered the the presidential election in May 2023, after emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic as one of the country’s most prominent Republicans.

The Florida governor’s campaign has been marked by culture war battles and conflicts with Trump, once one of his top allies.

See DeSantis' approach to key issues like climate change, education and health care in the USA TODAY Network's voting guide.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley

Haley, 51, started her political career in South Carolina's state legislature, where she served for 6 years before mounting a successful campaign for the governor's office in 2010. In 2016, Trump nominated Haley to be U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, a position she held for a year before unexpectedly stepping down in 2018.

She announced her presidential bid in February 2023, citing her record of economic growth as governor and deep knowledge of world affairs garnered during her time as U.N. ambassador.

See Haley's approach to key issues like climate change, education and health care in the USA TODAY Network's voting guide.

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson

Hutchinson, 73, was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives to serve Arkansas' 3rd district in 1997. He served until 2001 when he was appointed director for the Drug Enforcement Administration and later undersecretary for the Department of Homeland Security in former President George W. Bush's administration. After leaving Washington, he was elected 46th Governor of Arkansas. He served for two terms, from 2015 to 2023.

When Hutchinson launched his campaign in April 2023, he pointed to border security and the economy as the primary focus for his campaign.

See Hutchinson's approach to key issues like climate change, education and health care in the USA TODAY Network's voting guide.

Author and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy

Ramaswamy is a former biotech investor who founded the pharmaceutical research company Roivant Sciences in 2014. He stepped down as CEO in 2021 after going more public with his opposition to ESG and 'woke' politics in the corporate sector. He moved on to found Strive Asset Management, before stepping down to dedicate time to his 2024 run.

Ramaswamy, 38, entered the presidential election in February 2023. He has written multiple books, including “Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam.” The Ohio resident criticized what he called a “national identity crisis” as he launched his White House bid, instead touting “faith, patriotism and hard work.”

See Ramaswamy's approach to key issues like climate change, education and health care in the USA TODAY Network's voting guide.

Former President Donald Trump

There has never been a presidential candidate like Donald Trump, 77.

Prior to 2016, Trump dabbled in politics, often sounding off on issues like the birther movement. However, he was still primarily known for real estate and his forays into reality television, famously starring in "The Apprentice." In 2016, Trump won the White House, serving a full four-year term before being defeated by Biden in his reelection bid.

Trump, who announced he would seek reelection in November 2022, could become the first ex-president to win back the White House since Grover Cleveland.

He is already the first major candidate to face the prospect of four criminal trials during an election year. Throughout his campaign, Trump has proposed giving the president more power to hire and fire government employees, replacing civil servants with political followers.

See Trump's approach to key issues like climate change, education and health care in the USA TODAY Network's voting guide.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who are the Republican candidates in the Iowa Caucuses? See the list