Mike Pence ends his presidential campaign: Who are the remaining candidates?

Mike Pence becomes the first big-name candidate to drop out of the Republican presidential candidate race. He had been polling around 3.8% according to aggregate site FiveThirtyEight, fifth in the race.

Lower than Pence in polling are Chris Christie, Doug Scott, Asa Hutchinson, and Doug Burgum. It could be expected that more names will soon drop out, as none of these realistically have a chance of challenging. Pence has not pledged his support behind any single candidate, so it remains to be seen where the votes will go.

“We always knew this would be an uphill battle, but I have no regrets,” he wrote in a statement.

“I am leaving this campaign, but I will never leave the fight for conservative values.”

With the party voters very supportive of former president Donald Trump, the death knell for Pence’s campaign was already sounded before he even stepped forward. The former vice president broke ranks with his then-boss during the January 6 riots, refusing to overturn President Biden’s election win in 2020.

Who remains in the Republican race?

Donald Trump doesn’t really need an introduction. Numerous criminal cases launched against him have done little to stop his charge toward a third run for the presidency; no other Republican candidate comes close to dethroning him. He is polling at 56.9%.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who ranks second in the polls behind Trump at 14.1%, is realistically the only challenger to Trump. He has slipped from higher support in recent months.

Nikki Haley began her political career in 2004 when she was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives. In 2011, she became the first female governor of the state, then Trump appointed her ambassador to the United Nations in 2017. After a slow start she has increased her support to 8.0%.

Vivek Ramaswamy is a biotechnology and health care entrepreneur. Like DeSantis, he is also vocal about opposing “wokeness”, and authored a book entitled “Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam”. He is the youngest candidate and is polling at 5.8%.

Chris Christie’s central campaign points is his refusal to back Donald Trump. Though angering many Trump loyalists, also known as the majority of the party, it offers opponents of the former president a rallying figure.

Tim Scott is a South Carolina senator, the only Black Republican in the US Senate. He was also elected to the US House of Representatives. He made history as the first Black American to serve in both the House and the Senate.

Asa Hutchinson has been elected Governor of Arkansas twice and was also a congressman. Aside from his elective positions, he also served under the administration of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

Doug Burgum is the Governor of North Dakota, a position he has held since December 15, 2016.