2024 Republican Party vice presidential candidate selection

Multiple reporters, political analysts and commentators have noted that former president Donald Trump selecting former vice president Mike Pence to be his running mate once again would be highly unlikely following rifts between the two over the future of the Republican Party and Pence's attempts to distance himself from Trump. In June 2022, the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack found that Trump said Pence "deserved" calls to be hanged on the day of the attack. Pence has stated that he has no interest in seeking the vice presidential nomination again.

Trump's anticipated status as the presumptive nominee was solidified upon his victories in the Super Tuesday primaries, which saw Nikki Haley, his last remaining opposition, drop out the following day. Haley refused to endorse Trump, leaving her out of consideration in the view of multiple news and media outlets. Trump became the presumptive nominee on March 12.

Under the 12th amendment, because Trump currently resides in Florida, if Trump's running mate also resided in Florida, Florida's electors could not vote for both Trump and his running mate in the electoral college. In 2000, when Governor of Texas George W. Bush picked Dick Cheney, who also lived in Texas, Cheney changed his voter registration to Wyoming to prevent this issue from arising with Texas' critical electoral votes.

Speculative shortlists and comments by Trump continue to include numerous potential candidates, including:

•  
  Governor and 2024 presidential candidate
  Doug Burgum
  from North Dakota
  (2016–present)
•  
  Senator and 2016 presidential candidate
  Marco Rubio
  from Florida
  (2011–present)
•  
  Senator and 2024 presidential candidate
  Tim Scott
  from South Carolina
  (2013–present)
•  
  Senator
  J. D. Vance
  from Ohio
  (2023–present)

Trump's primary criterion for his running mate is loyalty, according to multiple sources.

In early 2024, Trump was reportedly encouraged to consider a woman or black man as his running mate.

Trump initially acknowledged a total of six names on his vice presidential shortlist at a Fox News townhall with Laura Ingraham in February 2024. Of those six, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declined to be considered that same month, while primary opponent Vivek Ramaswamy was ruled out as a potential pick by Trump the following month. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem was reportedly ruled out as a potential pick by Trump in April 2024 because of her hardline stance on abortion and backlash to a revelation in her autobiography that she shot and killed her pet dog. The remaining three are listed here:

•  
  Representative and 2023 candidate for Speaker of the House
  Byron Donalds
  from Florida
  (2021–present)
•  
  Representative and 2020 presidential candidate
  Tulsi Gabbard
  from Hawaii
  (2013–2021)
  (Independent)
•  
  Senator and 2024 presidential candidate
  Tim Scott
  from South Carolina
  (2013–present)

That March, Trump estimated that there were a total of 15 people on his shortlist in an interview with Newsmax. Three additional names were reported to have been revealed:

•  
  HUD Secretary and 2016 presidential candidate
  Ben Carson
  from Florida
  (2017–2021)
•  
  Senator and 2016 presidential candidate
  Marco Rubio
  from Florida
  (2011–present)
•  
  Representative and Chair of the House Republican Conference
  Elise Stefanik
  from New York
  (2015–present)

In late March, four others were added to the list, though as of April 30, Sarah Huckabee Sanders reportedly had "slipp[ed] down the list" for not endorsing Trump quickly enough:

•  
  Senator
  Katie Britt
  from Alabama
  (2023–present)
•  
  2024 presidential candidate and Governor
  Doug Burgum
  of North Dakota
  (2016–present)
•  
  Governor
  Sarah Huckabee Sanders
  of Arkansas
  (2023–present)
•  
  Senator
  J. D. Vance
  from Ohio
  (2023–present)

Several individuals have received speculation about possible selection as vice presidential nominee in 2024 including Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Governor Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, Senator Rick Scott of Florida, and Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez of Florida.

Reportedly in 2022, Trump had "repeatedly" discussed the possibility of choosing United States Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene as his running mate. Greene also claimed that she had been in talks with Trump to become his running mate. On March 6, 2023, multiple sources close to Trump, as reported by Axios, narrowed the list down to four major contenders. These were Haley; Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, former White House press secretary for Trump, who has received media attention for her executive orders; Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota; and Kari Lake, candidate for Arizona governor in 2022 who lost narrowly to Katie Hobbs. On July 3, 2023, Politico reported that sources close to Sanders said that she is not interested in being chosen as the vice presidential nominee as "she intends to serve as governor for eight years." According to Axios, Trump's major factor in the race is loyalty, something he sees strongly in Lake given her reiterations of the claims of a stolen 2020 election. On August 24, 2023, Trump in a media interview, mentioned Henry McMaster, Vivek Ramaswamy and Kristi Noem as his potential vice president picks.

Ron DeSantis, Governor of Florida, stated on July 15 that he would be open to selecting Reynolds as his running mate, if he won the Republican nomination. However, on July 17, Reynolds stated that she was not interested in being DeSantis' running mate.

On September 20, 2023, Tim Scott mentioned Mike Pompeo, Chris Sununu, Trey Gowdy and John Ratcliffe as potential vice president picks when asked by an audience member at a campaign stop in New Hampshire.

The news site Bloomberg News reported in March 2024 that Trump is considering former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer as a possible running mate.

Federal executive branch officials

•  
  Acting Director of National Intelligence
  Richard Grenell
  from California
  (2020)
•  
  White House Chief of Staff
  Mark Meadows
  from North Carolina
  (2020–2021)
•  
  Secretary of State
  Mike Pompeo
  from Kansas
  (2018–2021)
•  
  Director of National Intelligence
  John Ratcliffe
  of Texas
  (2020–2021)

Members of Congress

•  
  Senator
  Marsha Blackburn
  from Tennessee
  (2019–present)
•  
  Senator
  Tom Cotton
  from Arkansas
  (2015–present)
•  
  Senator and 2016 presidential candidate
  Ted Cruz
  from Texas
  (2013–present)
•  
  Senator
  Joni Ernst
  from Iowa
  (2015–present)
•  
  Representative
  Trey Gowdy
  from South Carolina
  (2011–2019)
•  
  Senator and 2016 presidential candidate
  Lindsey Graham
  from South Carolina
  (2003–present)
•  
  Representative
  Marjorie Taylor Greene
  from Georgia
  (2021–present)
•  
  Representative
  Wesley Hunt
  from Texas
  (2023–present)
•  
  Senator
  Mike Lee
  from Utah
  (2011–present)
•  
  Representative
  Nancy Mace
  from South Carolina
  (2021–present)
•  
  Senator and 2016 presidential candidate
  Rand Paul
  from Kentucky
  (2011–present)
•  
  Senator
  Rick Scott
  from Florida
  (2019–present)
•  
  Senator
  Tommy Tuberville
  from Alabama
  (2021–present)
•  
  Representative
  Jeff Van Drew
  from New Jersey
  (2019–present)
•  
  Representative
  Michael Waltz
  from Florida
  (2019–present)
•  
  Representative and 2022 nominee for Governor of New York
  Lee Zeldin
  from New York
  (2015–2023)
  

Governors

•  
  Governor
  Henry McMaster
  of South Carolina
  (2017–present)
•  
  2008 vice presidential nominee
  and
  Governor
  Sarah Palin
  of Alaska
  (2006–2009)
•  
  Governor
  Kim Reynolds
  of Iowa
  (2017–present)
•  
  Governor
  Glenn Youngkin
  of Virginia
  (2022–present)

Others

•  
  Political commentator
  Dan Bongino from Florida
•  
  Political commentator
  Tucker Carlson from Florida^{[citation needed]}
•  
  Former United States National Security Advisor
  Michael Flynn from Maryland (2017)
•  
  Businessman
  Mike Lindell from Minnesota
•  
  Republican National Committee Chair
  Ronna McDaniel
  from Michigan
  (2017–2024)
•  
  White House Senior Advisor and White House Director of Speechwriting
  Stephen Miller
  from California
  (2017–2021)
•  
  Lieutenant Governor
  (2021–present) and 2024 nominee for Governor
  Mark Robinson
  of North Carolina
•  
  Mayor of Miami and 2024 presidential candidate
  Francis Suarez
  of Florida
  (2017–present)
•  
  Former football running back and 2022 nominee for U.S. Senator from Georgia
  Herschel Walker
  from Georgia

Before the primaries

•  
  Vice President and 2024 presidential candidate
  Mike Pence
  from Indiana
  (2017–2021)
•  
  Governor
  Chris Sununu
  of New Hampshire
  (2017–present)

During the primaries

•  
  Governor
  Greg Abbott
  of Texas
  (2015–present)
•  
  Governor and 2024 presidential candidate
  Ron DeSantis
  of Florida
  (2019–present)
•  
  Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations and 2024 presidential candidate
  Nikki Haley
  from South Carolina
  (2017–2018)
•  
  Senator
  Josh Hawley
  from Missouri
  (2019–present)
•  
  Environmental lawyer and 2024 presidential candidate
  Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
  from California
  (independent)
•  
  Former Speaker of the House
  Kevin McCarthy
  from California
  (2023)

•  
  Ambassador to the United Nations and 2024 presidential candidate
  Nikki Haley
  of South Carolina
  (2017–2018)
•  
  Former news anchor and 2022 nominee for Governor of Arizona
  Kari Lake
  from Arizona
•  
  Governor
  Kristi Noem
  of South Dakota
  (2019–present)
•  
  Vice President and 2024 presidential candidate
  Mike Pence
  from Indiana
  (2017–2021)
•  
  Entrepreneur and 2024 presidential candidate
  Vivek Ramaswamy
  of Ohio

In March 2023, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held a poll on vice president, Kari Lake topped the poll with 20%, Ron DeSantis on 14% and Nikki Haley on 10%. Turning Point Action held a straw poll in July 2023 where Lake finished first with 30%, Byron Donalds in second with 24%, and Vivek Ramaswamy in third with 22%.

The vice presidential straw poll held at CPAC in February 2024 saw Ramaswamy and Kristi Noem tied for first place with 15% each, with Tulsi Gabbard at second with 9%, followed by Elise Stefanik and Tim Scott with 8%. Donalds and Lake received 7% and 6% respectively, while DeSantis, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Ben Carson each earned 5% of the vote. Other candidates listed who did not reach 5% were Haley, Tucker Carlson, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and J. D. Vance.