Who are the candidates running in the US presidential election?

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WASHINGTON: Republican former President Donald Trump is likely to face Vice President Kamala Harris in the November 5 United States (US) presidential election after President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid and a majority of the Democratic Party’s delegates moved to back Harris.

Several third-party hopefuls are also running. Here is a list of the candidates.

Republican Party

Donald Trump

Trump, 78, secured the Republican nomination at the party’s July convention in Milwaukee, just days after surviving an assassination attempt at a campaign rally. This is his third bid for the White House.

The shooting spurred a brief message of unity before Trump returned to his usual mix of bombast and grievance, repeating his false claim that Democrats stole the 2020 election.

Read more: US Secret Service chief resigns following Trump assassination attempt

Trump, in office from 2017 to 2021, has cast his unprecedented indictments in four criminal cases as a political attack not just against him but also against his supporters, calling his campaign “retribution” against perceived political enemies and embracing increasingly dystopian rhetoric.

Trump became the first former US president to be convicted of a crime in May and still faces US and Georgia state charges over efforts to subvert the 2020 election. Separate allegations of illegally keeping classified documents after leaving office were dismissed, but prosecutors have appealed. He denies any wrongdoing.

The remaining cases are unlikely to reach trial before the November election after the US Supreme Court ruledthat presidents are entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts. Trump’s New York sentencing for falsifying documents to cover up a payment to a porn star was also put on hold.

Trump, who chose US Senator JD Vance as his running mate, has refused to commit to accepting the 2024 election results or to rule out possible political violence, and he is laying the groundwork to contest a potential election loss. He has also vowed to pardon supporters jailed for the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, calling them “warriors.”

He would seek to replace federal civil service workers with loyalists. A consortium of Trump-friendly think tanks touts a sweeping policy agenda known as “Project 2025” that takes aim at diversity programs and the Justice Department’s independence, among other plans, although Trump has sought to distance himself.

On foreign policy, Trump vowed to fundamentally alter the US relationship with NATO and to resolve the Ukraine war with possible peace talks that might require Kyiv ceding territory.

Trump has made immigration a top domestic campaign issue, promising mass deportations, an end to birthright citizenship, and an expanded travel ban on people from certain countries, among other actions.

On abortion, he takes credit for the US Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe vs Wade and says laws regulating abortion should be left to states. Trump said he does not support banning birth control.

He has also vowed to undo much of the Biden administration’s work to fight climate change.

Democratic Party

Kamala Harris

Harris, 59, said she plans “to earn and win” the Democratic Party’s nomination after Biden ended his bid for a second term and endorsed her amid party upheaval following his weak performance in the June 27 debate against Trump.

Her candidacy allows Democrats to present a different vision of the United States in contrast to Trump’s agenda and could help the party revive its coalition of young voters, people of color and suburban women.

While Democrats quickly coalesced around Harris – a former US senator, prosecutor and California attorney general – it remains to be seen whether anyone will challenge her for the party’s nomination at the Democratic convention from August 19-22 in Chicago.

Harris, who is Black and Asian-American, became the first woman and person of color to serve as vice president after Biden selected her as his running mate in the 2020 election. She would become the first woman to serve as president in the nation’s 248-year history if she wins in November.

Like Biden, polls show Harris would face a tight race against Trump. She leads the former president 44 per cent to 42 per cent in a Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted July 22-23 just after Biden’s withdrawal.

Harris has been the face of the Biden campaign on the issue of abortion as reproductive rights became a major issue after the US Supreme Court in 2022 overturned the landmark 1973 Roe vs Wade decision.

She also was tasked with looking at several seemingly intractable issues, including the root causes of migration at the US southern border and limitations on voting rights.

As a presidential candidate, she is expected to stick largely to Biden’s foreign policy playbook on key issues such as Ukraine, China and Iran, but could strike a tougher tone with Israel over the Gaza war.

Her climate and energy positions are also similar to those held by Biden, who has made fighting climate change a top priority.

On business and the economy, Harris has been seen as tech-friendly even as she took on alleged anticompetitive and privacy issues, and she has sought to reassure donors that she backs capitalism.

Key labour groups, including the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of Teachers, have endorsed Harris’ presidential bid.

Marianne Williamson

Best-selling author and self-help guru Williamson, 72, on social media platform X called for an open Democratic convention after Biden dropped out of the race, saying, “No one should simply be anointed to the position of nominee.”

She relaunched her long-shot 2024 presidential bid in February, focusing on “justice and love” less than one month after dropping out, vowing to fight Trump’s “dark and authoritarian vision.”

Williamson previously ran for president as a Democrat in 2020, but dropped out before voting began in the primary contests.

Independents

Robert F Kennedy Jr

An anti-vaccine activist and environmental advocate, Kennedy, 70, is running as an independent after initially challenging Biden for the Democratic nomination.

The son of Democratic US Senator Robert F Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 during his own presidential bid, Kennedy has drawn rebukes from many members of his famous family.

He supports Israel and questioned a six-week ceasefire backed by Biden.

Kennedy said he views the US southern border situation as a humanitarian crisis and opposes Trump’s border wall. He has also vowed to repeal parts of Biden’s climate bill over tax breaks he says help the oil industry.

He has taken different positions on abortion rights, including restrictions on when a woman can access an abortion. He told Reuters he thought every abortion was a “tragedy” but that it should be a woman’s right throughout the pregnancy.

Kennedy has been criticised for making false medical claims on vaccines, but says he would allow Americans to access them.

In July, Kennedy apologised to a woman who accused him of sexual assault, saying in a text message seen by Reuters that he had “no memory” of it, but adding, “I apologise sincerely.”

His campaign also said Kennedy had a brain worm years ago but that he has fully recovered.

Kennedy, who chose wealthy lawyer Nicole Shanahan as his running mate, is officially on the ballot in just a handful of the 50 states, including California, Michigan and Utah, according to his campaign.

Cornel West

The political activist, philosopher and academic is making a third-party bid for president that is most likely to appeal to progressive, Democratic-leaning voters.

West, 71, initially ran as a Green Party candidate, but said in October that people “want good policies over partisan politics” and declared himself an independent. He has promised to end poverty and guarantee housing.

Green Party

Jill Stein

Stein, 74, a physician who ran under the Green Party in 2016, is trying once again in 2024.

She launched her current campaign accusing Democrats of betraying their promises “for working people, youth and the climate again and again – while Republicans don’t even make such promises in the first place.”

Libertarian Party

Chase Oliver

While the Libertarian Party invited both Trump and Kennedy to speak at its convention in late May, it ultimately selected Oliver, 38. Oliver ran for a Georgia state Senate seat in 2022 and garnered 2 per cent of the vote.