Who Will Run In 2024? - Updated

The mid-term election is over, which means the 2024 campaign for president is now underway, and you know what that means: Lists. I like lists, in particular lists of who might or might not run, who is or is not running for president. On October 18, 2020, I posted a list of 24 Republicans who appeared to be at least considering a run for president four years in the future. (This was 2 1/2 weeks before the 2020 election took place; at that point there were two possible outcomes for 2024: Donald would be completing his second term or Joe Biden would be gearing up to run for reelection.) Here's that list:   

1. Governor Greg Abbott, Texas
2. Rep. Liz Cheney, Wyoming 
3. Senator Tom Cotton, Arkansas 
4. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, Texas 
5. Senator Ted Cruz, Texas 
6. Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida
7. Governor Doug Ducey, Arizona
8. Richard Grenell, former ambassador to Germany and former acting director of national intelligence
9. Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina governor 
10. Senator Josh Hawley, Missouri
11. Governor Larry Hogan, Maryland 
12. Mark Meadows, White House chief of staff and former North Carolina representative 
13. Governor Kristi L. Noem, South Dakota
14. Robert C. O’Brien, national security advisor 
15. Vice President Mike Pence
16. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
17. Senator Mitt Romney, Utah, 2012 Republican nominee for president
18. Senator Marco Rubio, Florida 
19. Senator Ben Sasse, Nebraska 
20. Senator Rick Scott, Florida
21. Senator Tim Scott. South Carolina 
22. Senator Patrick J. Toomey, Pennsylvania
23. Donald Trump Jr. 
24. Ivanka Trump

Two years later things look a little different. At that time there wasn't much talk about Donald running in 2024 if he lost in 2020, which is why he's not on this list. Don Jr. and Ivanka are, however, but with Donald almost certain to run, the kids are out of contention. Representative Liz Cheney sacrificed her career to pursue the truth as part of the January 6 commitee and Senator Tom Cotton is the first to officially announce that he's not running. He gets to be the first name on the "I'm Not Running" list: 

I'm Not Running

1. Senator Tom Cotton

With those tweaks to the list above, here is my current "I'm Thinking About Running" list: 

I'm Thinking About Running: 

1. Governor Greg Abbott, Texas
2. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, Texas 
3. Senator Ted Cruz, Texas 
4. Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida
5. Governor Doug Ducey, Arizona
6. Richard Grenell, former ambassador to Germany and former acting director of national intelligence
7. Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina governor 
8. Senator Josh Hawley, Missouri
9. Governor Larry Hogan, Maryland 
10. Mark Meadows, White House chief of staff and former North Carolina representative 
11. Governor Kristi L. Noem, South Dakota
12. Robert C. O’Brien, national security advisor 
13. Vice President Mike Pence
14. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
15. Senator Mitt Romney, Utah, 2012 Republican nominee for president
16. Senator Marco Rubio, Florida 
17. Senator Ben Sasse, Nebraska 
18. Senator Rick Scott, Florida
19. Senator Tim Scott. South Carolina 
20. Senator Patrick J. Toomey, Pennsylvania
21. Donald Trump

As soon as candidates start to officially declare they're running, I'll put up the I'm Running list. 

Update on November 16: I hadn't seen it when I initially wrote this post, but on Saturday, the Washington Post posted their list of the top 10 individuals most likely to be the Republican nominee in 2024 and note that their list is ranked, my list above is simply alphabetical. This is how the Washington Post sees the GOP race right now, (or at least as of Saturday): 

1. Ron DeSantis
2. Donald Trump
3. Mike Pence
4. Gleen Youngkin (Governor of Virginia)
5. Tim Scott
6. Kari Lake (former news anchor running for Governor of Arizona)
7. Ted Cruz
8. Nikki Haley
9. Mike Pompeo
10. Rick Scott

Since the list was published, Kari Lake lost her race for Governor of Arizona, Rick Scott is challenging Mitch McConnell for Senate Minority Leader, and, oh yeah, last night Donald Trump officially announced that he's running for president. Again. That means he gets to be the first name on the "I'm Running" list: 

I'm Running

1. Donald Trump (November 15, 2022)

Days until the 2024 election: 720