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Republican Presidential Primaries
Candidates :
- Marco Rubio, U.S. Senator from Florida since 2011, 2020 presidential candidate (Nominee)
- Jon Huntsman, U.S. Ambassador in China from 2009 to 2011, Governor of Utah from 2005 to 2009, 2012 presidential candidate
- Rand Paul, U.S. Senator from Kentucky, 2020 presidential candidate
- Scott Walker, Governor of Wisconsin from 2011 to 2019
Even before 2024 primaries, Senator Marco Rubio is the favorite among the Republicans to run in 2024. After finishing in second position against Paul Ryan during the 2020 Republican primaries, he is considered as next guy in line. His popularity is also due to his conservative faith and the fact that he is Hispanic. He's considered like the « GOP's Barack Obama ». With the approval of the immigration reform bill of the Gang of 8, which Rubio belongs, in the Senate (in 2013) and the House of the Representatives (in 2017), the GOP gains more support among ethnic minorities, including Hispanics, the most growing ethny in the USA. It gives more popularity for Rubio. On May 2023, the Florida Senator announces he will run again for President. In addition, with the Jeb Bush's loss in 2016 and the Paul Ryan's defeat in 2020, there is much less GOP candidates to stand in the Rubio's way during the Republican primaries. With the Rubio's accusations against Senator Ted Cruz of breaking the US Constitution by running for president while he's not born in the USA, the Rubio's high popularity and the fact that this year Cruz's seat in the Senate will be involved, Ted Cruz decides not to challenge Rubio during the primaries. Instead, he runs for re-election for his seat in the Senate. This year, Chris Christie's seat in the Senate will also be involved, so he decides not to run and focus on his re-election campaign in the Senate. With Paul Ryan not being in the race, Scott Walker decides to launch his first real campaign. Former U.S. Ambassador in China Jon Huntsman announces on July 2023 he will run for President, but the polls don't play in his favor. Most of the Republican electors don't look Huntsman as a true conservative and consider him as too moderate. According to the national polls, Marco Rubio seems to be the only Republican candidate who can beat Vice-President Julian Castro in the General election. Rubio gains the endorsements from Jeb Bush, John McCain, Paul Ryan, Condoleezza Rice, etc. To win the nomination, a candidate needs to win over 1144 delegates. On January 2024, he wins Iowa, South Carolina and his home state of Florida, while Jon Huntsman wins New Hampshire. After Rubio's victory in his home state, Scott Walker drops out of the race and endorses the Florida Senator. On February, Rubio gains 6 contests on 8. The rest goes to Huntsman. Before Super Tuesday, Huntsman wins the Washington state. On Super Tuesday, there is 10 contests and Senator Rubio wins 8 of them while Huntsman only wins Massachussets and Vermont. After losing severely Louisiana to Marco Rubio and winning 7 primaries, Jon Huntsman exits the race and gives his endorsement to Rubio. The Florida Senator secures the Republican nomination on April after gaining New York, Philadelphia, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Delaware. He selects Jon Huntsman as his running mate to win more Asian-American votes (by the fact he has been a Mormon missionary in China, a U.S. ambassador in Singapore, then in China and his perfect Mandarin speaking, which gives him close ties and popularity among the Asian-Americans) and more Independent votes. The Republican National Convention is held in Columbus, Ohio.
Results :
Marco Rubio - 43 states + D.C., 1975 delegates, 62 % of the popular vote.
Jon Huntsman - 7 states, 251 delegates, 22 % of the popular vote.
Rand Paul - 0 state, 49 delegates, 10 % of the popular vote.
Scott Walker - 0 state, 11 delegates, 6 % of the popular vote.