Donald Trump triggered the beginning of the 2024 election cycle by announcing his candidacy for president last week. His revelation has locals comtemplating whether they want the former president to continue leading the Republican Party.
By tradition, an incumbent president who is seeking reelection does not face competitors in his or her primary election, which allowed Trump to coast through the primaries in 2020. This time around, he will likely face a number of Republican challengers who will seek to replace him as spokesperson for the GOP.
A recent Washington Post article ranked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as the most likely Republican nominee for president, followed by Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Mike Pompeo, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, and Florida Gov. Rick Scott.
Other potential candidates include Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Missouri Gov. Josh Hawley, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Texas Gov. Greg Abbot, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and Donald Trump Jr.
Dell Barnes, vice chair of the Cherokee County Democratic Party, said Trump has lost his edge within the Republican Party, as indicated by the 2022 midterm elections earlier this month.
“I think the GOP is going to have a lot of work this coming cycle if they want to have a functioning party again. The Democratic Party is showing itself more and more to be a party of the people and things are changing for how Americans do politics,” he said.
Yolette Ross, Cherokee County Democratic chair, watched Trump’s announcement, and she was not impressed.
“It lacked the usual fire and brimstone that is usually associated with his rallies. It’s almost as if his heart wasn’t really in it,” said Ross.
She believes Trump made his announcement too early, as many voters are not thinking about the 2024 elections just yet
“This leads me to believe the only reason why he announced it was to distract from his legal woes and to hopefully avoid indictment. Donald Trump is not a credible candidate. He continues to deny the results of the 2020 election, and he thrives on dividing the country with his divisive rhetoric,” she said.
Ross called out several high-profile politicians because they denied the results of the 2020 election, and said this is harmful to democracy.
“If I had to pick a GOP challenger, it would have to be Adam Kinzinger. His willingness to serve on the Jan. 6 committee demonstrates he is about doing what is right for the sake of the country, as opposed to political expediency. Either way, the GOP should be able to do better than Donald Trump as their candidate,” said Ross.
Text messages and a voicemail were left for the Cherokee County Republican Party leadership by phone and text, but no response was made before press time. Steve Hall, Cherokee County Republican Party chair, was asked in a voice mail about the direction of the local party and who he thought Cherokee County residents would support. He did not respond before press time.
Daily Press readers were asked to offer their insights on the Republican Party and the 2024 election in a Saturday Facebook Forum. Stephani Kaufman Bayhylle recommended a DeSantis and Tulsi Gabbard run, which Robby Tiffee supported.
“Had Tulsi Gabbard made it through the DNC debates, I would have voted for her in a heartbeat. She’s awesome, and a DeSantis/Gabbard ticket would be gold,” said Tiffee.
Gabbard represented Hawaii in Congress as a Democrat and ran for president in 2020. She left the Democratic Party and became an independent. Many know her as the first Samoan-American and Hindu member of Congress.
Eric Swanson believes Trump is most likely to win the GOP nomination.
“I suspect that Trump still commands enough loyalty among Republicans that he will secure the nomination. I can’t see him putting DeSantis on the ticket as a running mate, since DeSantis is a potential rival who could outshine Trump – and we all know Trump can’t bear to be eclipsed by anyone,” said Swanson, who said he would like to see a moderate Republican win the nomination.
Shane Morrison also recommended the Republicans support DeSantis.
“If the GOP has any sense left, they would push Trump to the side and go all in with DeSantis. There are two groups that would love to see Trump be the nominee: his MAGA base and Democrats.
The midterms should have taught them that people are growing tired of Trump’s nonsense, seeing as almost everyone he backed lost,” said Morrison.
Dawnya Madina believes that regardless of whether Trump wins the nomination, he could continue to pose a threat to the GOP.
“If Trump doesn’t win the primary, I can see him running in the general election as a third party, splitting the vote. Trump has turned into the Dems biggest weapon,” said Madina.
What you said
On the Daily Press website, readers were asked whether they believe Trump will become the eventual Republican nominee, and 37% said probably not; 28% said definitely not; 27% yes, absolutely; 7% said probably so; and 1% were undecided.
