| Year: | 2024 |
| Type: | Presidential election year |
| Incumbent President: | Joe Biden (Democratic) |
| Election Day: | November 5 |
| Next Congress: | 119th |
| President Map Caption: | The electoral map for the 2024 election, based on populations from the 2020 census |
| Senate Seats Contested: | 34 of the 100 seats (32 Class I seats, 1 Class II special election seat, 1 class I special and general election seat) |
| Senate Map Caption: | Map of the 2024 Senate races |
| House Seats Contested: | All 435 voting-members All six non-voting delegates |
| House Map Caption: | Map of the 2024 House races |
| Governor Seats Contested: | 13 |
| Governor Map Caption: | Map of the 2024 gubernatorial elections |
The 2024 United States elections are scheduled to be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. During this presidential election year, the president and vice president will be elected. In addition, all 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives and 34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate will be contested to determine the membership of the 119th United States Congress. Thirteen state and territorial governorships and numerous other state and local elections will also be contested.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed the US has seen evidence of attempts to “influence and arguably interfere” with the upcoming US elections, despite an earlier commitment from leader Xi Jinping not to do so.[1] [2]
On August 12, there were reports of an Iranian hacking operation targeting both major party presidential campaigns.[3]
This will be the first presidential election held after the overturn of Roe v. Wade, and the third overall election cycle after the 2022 midterm elections and the 2023 off-year elections. Republican-controlled states predominantly passed near-total bans on abortion in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's June 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision. By April 2023, abortion was "largely illegal" throughout much of the United States.[4] According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, there were 15 states that have de jure early stage bans on abortion explicitly without exceptions for rape or incest: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. In states with laws granting exceptions, it was reported de facto that "very few exceptions to these new abortion bans have been granted" and that patients who had been raped or otherwise qualified for exceptions were being turned away, citing "ambiguous laws and the threat of criminal penalties make them unwilling to test the rules".[5]
Democrats outperformed Biden's results in the 2020 U.S. presidential election in several 2022 House special elections, with abortion cited as a major contributor to their victories.[6] Then during the 2023 elections, both Democratic and Republican operatives attributed the Democrats' overperformance streak to the growing bipartisan support of broad abortion rights in the wake of Dobbs decision.[7] [8] Thus, many conservative political analysts and commentators called a continued Republican alliance with the anti-abortion movement "untenable" and an "electoral disaster", and urged the party to favor abortion rights.[9] Some issue polling has shown Donald Trump, the 2024 Presidential Republican nominee, outrunning his party and closing the gap with Democrats on the issue of abortion, but no election data with Trump directly on the ballot has happened to verify these results.[10]
Mark Robinson, who once advocated for a complete abortion ban without exceptions, underwent a rhetorical shift in his North Carolina gubernatorial campaign. In 2018, he had labeled abortion as "murder" and "genocide," but as the leading Republican candidate for governor of North Carolina in 2024, he avoided mentioning abortion on the campaign trail. However, his stance softened following the Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs decision and the passage of North Carolina's 12-week abortion ban in May 2023. Robinson, who had shifted to emphasizing the term "life" instead of "abortion," expressed support for "heartbeat" legislation with exceptions for rape, incest, and the mother's life. Despite his past harsh rhetoric, Robinson's then-current position reflected a more nuanced approach to anti-abortion legislation.[11]
On November 18, 2022, three days after former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump announced his 2024 re-election bid, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith as special counsel to investigate Trump's role in the January 6 U.S. Capitol attack and Trump's mishandling of government documents, including classified documents.
On March 30, 2023, Trump was indicted by a grand jury in Manhattan for his alleged role in a scandal stemming from hush money payments made to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.[12]
On May 10, 2023, Republican New York Congressman George Santos was indicted on federal charges of fraud and money laundering.[13]
On June 8, 2023, Trump was indicted on 37 federal charges related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents by the office of the Smith special counsel investigation.[14]
On August 1, 2023, a Washington, D.C., federal grand jury indicted Trump again on four felony counts of conspiracy and obstruction related to Trump's role in the January 6 attack and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.[15]
On August 14, a Georgia grand jury indicted Trump on racketeering and other felonies committed in an effort to overturn the state's 2020 election results and the Trump–Raffensperger phone call.[16] [17] As of September 15, 2023, Trump has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
On August 11, four months after incumbent president and Democratic candidate Joe Biden announced his re-election bid, Garland appointed David C. Weiss to serve as special counsel to investigate Biden's son, Hunter Biden, who was indicted on September 14, 2023, on three federal firearms-related charges.[18] [19]
On September 22, 2023, Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey and his wife Nadine were both indicted on bribery charges.[20] [21]
On December 19, 2023, the Colorado Supreme Court removed Trump from the state's 2024 Republican primary, citing the Fourteenth Amendment's ban on candidates who engage in insurrections.[22] This decision was later overturned by the US Supreme Court on March 4, 2024.[23]
See main article: 2024 United States presidential election.
The 2024 United States presidential election will be the 60th quadrennial U.S. presidential election. This will be the first presidential election under the electoral vote distribution determined by the 2020 census. Presidential electors who will elect the President and Vice President of the United States will be chosen; a simple majority (270) of the 538 electoral votes are required to win the election. President Joe Biden initially ran for a second term and won the primaries, with Vice President Kamala Harris once again serving as his running mate; Biden later withdrew his candidacy on July 21, 2024.[24] This is the first election since 1968 in which an eligible incumbent president was not their party's nominee.[25] After a survey by the Associated Press of Democratic delegates on July 22, 2024, Kamala Harris became the new presumptive candidate for the Democratic party, a day after declaring her candidacy.[26] She would become the official nominee on August 5 following a virtual roll call of delegates.[27]
In November 2022, former President Donald Trump announced his candidacy in the 2024 presidential election.[28] Other candidates who have entered the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries include former South Carolina governor and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley and current Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who have since suspended their campaigns.[29] The first Republican presidential debate was held on August 23, 2023, and the first primary contest was the 2024 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses, which was held on January 15, 2024.[30] Trump would win the nomination easily; he was formally nominated at the Republican Convention on July 15, his third consecutive presidential nomination.[31]
In October 2023, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his run as an independent presidential candidate.[32]
See main article: 2024 United States Senate elections.
All 33 seats in Senate Class 1 and one seat in Senate Class 2 will be up for election; at least one additional special election will take place to fill vacancies that arise during the . Democrats control the majority in the closely-divided Senate following the 2022 U.S. Senate elections, but they will have to defend 23 seats in 2024. Three Democratic-held seats up for election are in the heavily Republican-leaning states of Montana, Ohio, and West Virginia, all of which were won comfortably by Trump in both 2016 and 2020.[33] Other potential Republican targets include seats in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Maryland, while Democrats may target Republican-held seats in Florida and Texas.[34]
Two special elections are scheduled to fill the unexpired terms of senators who vacated their seats during the 118th Congress:
See main article: 2024 United States House of Representatives elections.
All 435 voting seats in the United States House of Representatives will be up for election. Additionally, elections will be held to select the non-voting members who represent the District of Columbia and all five permanently-inhabited U.S. territories in the House of Representatives. Republicans hold a narrow majority in the House of Representatives following the 2022 U.S. House elections.[40]
Six special elections to the House of Representatives are scheduled to be held in 2024.
See main article: 2024 United States gubernatorial elections.
Elections will be held for the governorships of eleven of the fifty U.S. states and two U.S. territories. Special elections may be held for vacancies in the other states and territories, if required by respective state or territorial constitutions.
See main article: 2024 United States attorney general elections. Ten states will hold attorney general elections.
See main article: 2024 United States secretary of state elections. Seven states will hold elections.
See main article: 2024 United States state treasurer elections.
Ten states will hold elections.
See main article: 2024 United States state legislative elections. Most legislative chambers will hold regularly-scheduled elections in 2024. The exceptions are the Michigan Senate, Minnesota Senate, and both legislative chambers in the states of Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia. In chambers that use staggered terms, only a portion of the seats in the chamber will be up for election.
See also: List of U.S. statewide elected officials.
In addition to gubernatorial elections, various other executive and judicial positions will hold elections at the state level in 2024.
A number of major U.S. cities have held mayoral elections in 2024:
On March 5, one-term incumbent Jerry Dyer won re-election against James Barr and Samantha Dussell.[54]
On March 5, one-term incumbent Patricia Lock Dawson won re-election against Jessica Qattawi.[55] It was the first time since 2009 that it did not go to a runoff election.
On March 5, one-term incumbent Matt Mahan won re-election against Tyrone Wade.[56]
On April 2, David Bogdala defeated Lydia Spottswood, succeeding two-term incumbent John Antaramian, who chose to retire.[57]
On April 2, one-term incumbent Cavalier Johnson won re-election to a full term against David King.[58]
On May 14, Suzanne LaFrance defeated one-term incumbent Dave Bronson in his bid for re-election.[59]
On May 14, Denny Magruder defeated Rosemary Ketchum, succeeding two-term incumbent Glenn Elliott, who was term-limited.[60] [61]
On June 15, Mark McBrayer defeated Steve Massengale in a runoff, succeeding one-term incumbent Tray Payne, who chose to retire.[62]
On August 10, one-term incumbent Rick Blangiardi won re-election against Choon James.[63]
On August 20, one-term incumbent Daniella Levine Cava won re-election against Manny Cid and Alexander Otaola.[64]
One-term incumbent Kirk Watson is running for re-election.[65]
One-term incumbent Brandon Scott was renominated for re-election. He will face Shannon Wright in the general election.[66]
Two-term incumbent Sharon Weston Broome is running for re-election.[67]
One-term incumbent Patrick Collins is running for re-election.[68]
Two-term incumbent Paulette Guajardo is eligible for re-election.
One-term incumbent John Stephens is eligible for re-election.
One-term incumbent Oscar Leeser is running for re-election.[69]
Four-term incumbent Lioneld Jordan is running for re-election.[70]
One-term incumbent Brandon Bochenski is running for re-election.[71]
One-term incumbent Kate Gallego is running for re-election.[72]
One-term incumbent Jenny Wilson is running for re-election.[73]
One-term incumbent Todd Gloria is running for re-election.[74] He will face Larry Turner in the runoff election.
One-term incumbent London Breed is running for re-election.[75]
Four-term incumbent Doug Sprouse is running for re-election.[76]
One-term incumbent Bobby Dyer is running for re-election.[77]
Two-term incumbent Justin Wilson is retiring.[78]
Two-term incumbent Rosalynn Bliss is term-limited and ineligible to run.
Three-term incumbent Steve Williams is retiring to run for governor.[79] Jennifer Wheeler and Patrick Farrell are the nominees for the general election.[80]
Two-term incumbent Farrah Khan is term-limited and ineligible to run.
Three-term incumbent Carolyn Goodman is term-limited and ineligible to run.
Two-term incumbent John Giles is term-limited and ineligible to run.
Two-term incumbent Ted Wheeler is retiring.[81]
Two-term incumbent Mary-Ann Baldwin is retiring.[82]
Two-term incumbent Levar Stoney is term-limited and ineligible to run.
Two-term incumbent Darrell Steinberg is retiring.[83] Flojaune Cofer and Kevin McCarty advanced to the runoff election.[84]
One-term incumbent Kevin Lincoln is retiring to run for Congress.[85] Tom Patti and Christina Fugazi advanced to the runoff election.[86]
Two-term incumbent G. T. Bynum is term-limited and ineligible to run.
Two-term incumbent Mike Purzycki is retiring.[87]
In January, the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation elected Sandra Pattea tribal president,[88] ousting long-term tribal leader Bernadine Burnette, who first joined the tribal council in 1992.[89] Also in January, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community elevated Cole Miller from vice chair to tribal chairman,[90] and Debra O'Gara was elected president of the Petersburg Indian Association in Alaska.[91]
In February, the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians elected Doug Barrett tribal chief in a special election to fill the remainder of Donald "Doc" Slyter's term, which expires in April 2030. Slyter died in November 2023.[92] [93]
In March, the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma reelected Durell Cooper III as tribal chairman and Matthew Tselee as vice-chairman. Dustin Cozad was elected Apache Treasurer and Donald Komardley and Amber Achilta were elected to the tribe's business committee. The Peoria Tribe of Oklahoma elected Jason Dollarhide as treasurer, Carolyn Ritchey to the business committee, and Stacy Lindsly to the grievance committee.[94]
In April, Lisa Goree was elected chair of the Shinnecock Nation on Long Island. She is the first woman to lead the tribe since 1792.[95]
In May, Forrest Tahdooahnippah was elected as chair of the Comanche Nation, replacing Mark Woommavovah who declined to run for reelection after being censured for his approval of a refinery project on tribal land; Diana Doyebi-Sovo was elected vice-chair. The Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma elected Mikal Scott-Werner second chief, Kallista Keah as secretary-treasurer, Cody Hollenbeck first councilman, and Rachel Marie Yeakley to the tribe's grievance committee.[96] The Wasco, part of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, elected Jefferson Greene chief in a special election.[97] Michael Q. Primus II, Ben Lucero Wolf, Tiya “Tanequodle” Rosario, and Warren Quetone were elected to the Kiowa Tribe's legislature.[98] The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in Idaho elected Lee Juan Tyler as chair of the Fort Hall Business Council.[99]
In June, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe in Arizona elected Julian Hernandez tribal council chair.[100] The Osage Nation elected Pam Shaw, John Maker, Billy Keene, Maria Whitehorn, and Joe Tillman to the Osage Congress. Charles Diebold was reelected chief of the Seneca-Cayuga Nation while Cynthia Bauer and John White Eagle were elected to the tribe's business committee. The Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma elected Abraham Lincoln, Perri Ahhaitty, and Christie Modlin to the business committee. In a June Comanche Nation runoff, Lisa Dawsey was elected tribal administrator and law firm Crowe & Dunlevy was elected tribal attorney.[101] Also in June, Minnesota Chippewa Tribe voters elected Bruce Savage to lead the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, and reelected Cathy Chavers as head of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, Faron Jackson Sr. of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, and Michael Fairbanks of the White Earth Nation. Grand Portage Band of Chippewa chairperson Robert Deschampe was unopposed.[102] The sixth group in the tribe, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, elected Virgil Wind chief executive in April when he won the primary election outright with more than 50 percent of the vote. Wind succeeded Melanie Benjamin who decided not to run for a seventh term.[103]
In July, the Chickasaw Nation reelected David Woerz, Toby Perkins, Nancy Elliott, Shana Tate Darter, and Scott Wood to the tribe's legislature and Linda English Weeks to the tribe's supreme court. Matthew Wesaw was reelected to a fourth term as chair of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians tribal council.[104]
In January, three proposed Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes constitutional amendments failed after only 11.3% of voters returned ballots, short of the 30% voter turnout required for constitutional amendments to pass by the tribe's constitution.[105]
In June, the Cherokee Nation rejected a referendum calling for a constitutional convention to amend or replace the tribe's constitution by a margin of 69.5% to 30.5%.[106] Also in June, the Osage Nation voters approved 76.9% to 23.1% a constitutional amendment allowing the Osage Congress to reject executive appointees during a special session.[107] A Kiowa Tribe referendum scheduled for June that would have raised citizens blood quantum was cancelled.
See also: Political party strength in U.S. states.
This table shows the partisan results of presidential, congressional, gubernatorial, and state legislative races held in each state and territory in 2024. Note that not all states and territories hold gubernatorial, state legislative, and Senate elections in 2024. The five territories and Washington, D.C., do not elect members of the Senate, and the territories do not take part in presidential elections; instead, they each elect one non-voting member of the House. Nebraska's unicameral legislature and the governorship and legislature of American Samoa are elected on a non-partisan basis, and political party affiliation is not listed.
| State/ | 2022 PVI[108] | Before 2024 elections | After 2024 elections | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | State leg. | U.S. Senate | U.S. House | Pres. | Governor | State leg. | U.S. Senate | U.S. House | ||||||||||
| Alabama | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep | ||||||||||||
| Alaska | Rep | Coalition | Rep | Rep | Rep | |||||||||||||
| Arizona | Dem | Rep | Rep 6–3 | Dem | ||||||||||||||
| Arkansas | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep | |||||||||||||
| California | Dem | Dem | Dem | Dem 40–12 | Dem | |||||||||||||
| Colorado | Dem | Dem | Dem | Dem 5–3 | Dem | Dem | ||||||||||||
| Connecticut | Dem | Dem | Dem | Dem | ||||||||||||||
| Delaware | Dem | Dem | Dem | |||||||||||||||
| Florida | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep 20–8 | Rep | |||||||||||||
| Georgia | Rep | Rep | Dem | Rep 9–5 | Rep | Dem | ||||||||||||
| Hawaii | Dem | Dem | Dem | Dem | ||||||||||||||
| Idaho | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep | |||||||||||||
| Illinois | Dem | Dem | Dem | Dem 14–3 | Dem | Dem | ||||||||||||
| Indiana | Rep | Rep | Rep | |||||||||||||||
| Iowa | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep | |||||||||||||
| Kansas | Dem | Rep | Rep | Dem | Rep | |||||||||||||
| Kentucky | Dem | Rep | Rep | Dem | Rep | |||||||||||||
| Louisiana | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep | ||||||||||||
| Maine | Dem | Dem | Dem 2–0 | Dem | ||||||||||||||
| Maryland | Dem | Dem | Dem | Dem | Dem | |||||||||||||
| Massachusetts | Dem | Dem | Dem | Dem | ||||||||||||||
| Michigan | Dem | Dem | Dem | Dem 7–6 | Dem | |||||||||||||
| Minnesota | Dem | Dem | Dem | Dem | ||||||||||||||
| Mississippi | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep | |||||||||||||
| Missouri | Rep | Rep | Rep | |||||||||||||||
| Montana | Rep | Rep | ||||||||||||||||
| Nebraska | Rep | NP/R | Rep | Rep | NP/R | |||||||||||||
| Nevada | Rep | Dem | Dem | Rep | ||||||||||||||
| New Hampshire | Rep | Rep | Dem | Dem | ||||||||||||||
| New Jersey | Dem | Dem | Dem | Dem 9–3 | Dem | Dem | ||||||||||||
| New Mexico | Dem | Dem | Dem | Dem | ||||||||||||||
| New York | Dem | Dem | Dem | Dem | ||||||||||||||
| North Carolina | Dem | Rep | Rep | Rep | ||||||||||||||
| North Dakota | Rep | Rep | Rep | |||||||||||||||
| Ohio | Rep | Rep | Rep 10–5 | Rep | ||||||||||||||
| Oklahoma | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep | |||||||||||||
| Oregon | Dem | Dem | Dem | Dem 4–2 | Dem | Dem | ||||||||||||
| Pennsylvania | Dem | Split | Dem | Dem 9–8 | Dem | |||||||||||||
| Rhode Island | Dem | Dem | Dem | Dem | ||||||||||||||
| South Carolina | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep | |||||||||||||
| South Dakota | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep | |||||||||||||
| Tennessee | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep 8–1 | Rep | |||||||||||||
| Texas | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep 25–13 | Rep | |||||||||||||
| Utah | Rep | Rep | Rep | |||||||||||||||
| Vermont | Rep | Dem | ||||||||||||||||
| Virginia | Rep | Dem | Dem | Dem 6–5 | Rep | Dem | ||||||||||||
| Washington | Dem | Dem | Dem | Dem 8–2 | ||||||||||||||
| West Virginia | Rep | Rep | ||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | Dem | Rep | Dem | |||||||||||||||
| Wyoming | Rep | Rep | Rep | Rep | ||||||||||||||
| United States | Even | Rep | Rep | Dem | Rep | |||||||||||||
| Washington, D.C. | Dem | Dem | Dem | Dem | ||||||||||||||
| American Samoa | NP/D | NP | Rep | NP | NP | |||||||||||||
| Guam | Dem | Dem | Rep | Dem | ||||||||||||||
| N. Mariana Islands | Ind | Coalition | Dem | Ind | ||||||||||||||
| Puerto Rico | PNP/D | PDP | PNP/R | |||||||||||||||
| U.S. Virgin Islands | Dem | Dem | Dem | Dem | ||||||||||||||
| State/ | PVI | Governor | State leg. | U.S. Senate | U.S. House | Pres. | Governor | State leg. | U.S. Senate | U.S. House | ||||||||
| Before 2024 elections | After 2024 elections | |||||||||||||||||
See main article: Swatting of American politicians (2023–2024).
The election campaign has been marked by widespread doxxing, swatting, and threats against politicians and activists, with a particular series of incidents starting in December 2023.[109] [110] [111]
On July 13, 2024, during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, presidential candidate Donald Trump was shot at in a failed assassination attempt. The gunfire caused minor damage to Trump's upper right ear, while one spectator was killed and two others were critically injured.[112]