Photo: News_Trump_Biden_: “Trump & Biden” by ekaden is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via creative commons.
The November elections in the U.S. will determine the next president, the entire House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate, according to whitehouse.gov. The front runners for the 2024 presidential primaries are currently Donald Trump and Joe Biden, both are aiming for re-election.
USA Today predicts an inevitable rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump for the presidency. As of Feb. 27, 2024, 45% of voters intend to vote for Donald Trump while 43% of voters intend to vote for Joe Biden, according to a poll tracker by The Economist. However, the majority of Americans are not looking forward to either Trump or Biden as the next president. An AP-NORC poll asked Americans about their opinions regarding both candidates: 56% said they were dissatisfied with Biden and 58% said they were dissatisfied with Trump.
Donald Trump is currently leading the Republican nominee having won 122 delegates over Nikki Haley’s 24. In the race for the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden has won 206 delegates but missed out on 2 uncommitted votes in Michigan. In order to win the majority of available delegates for their party, Donald Trump needs 1,215 and Joe Biden needs 1,968.
The Washington Post reports that Michigan voters are casting uncommitted ballots in protest against what they believe is Joe Biden’s mishandling of the war in Gaza.
An uncommitted vote means the voter is voting for the party but not endorsing any specific candidate.
Dates for the Presidential Election
Super Tuesday will take place on March 5, 2024. Super Tuesday is when the largest number of states hold primary elections in a single day. Voters in 15 states, including California and Texas, and one U.S. territory will cast votes for their party’s presidential nominee. Over one-third of delegates will be contested on Super Tuesday.
In Pennsylvania, both parties will hold primaries for the presidency, state congress and U.S. Congress on April 23, 2024. The last day for voter registration is typically 15 days before the election is held which would be April 8.
The Republican National Convention will be held from July 15 until July 18 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, while the Democratic National Convention is set to take place from Aug. 19 until Aug. 22 in Chicago, Illinois. The presidential candidate for each party is nominated at these events, and this is when they normally unveil their running mate (vice president).
There are three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate scheduled to take place in September and October:
Sept. 16 – first presidential debate (San Marcos, TX).
Sept. 25 – first vice presidential debate (Easton, PA).
Oct. 1 – second presidential debate (Petersburg, VA).
Oct. 9 – third presidential debate (Salt Lake City, UT).
2024 general elections will take place on Nov. 5. In accordance with U.S. statutory law, election day always takes place on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November. This day was selected in order to satisfy both religious and agricultural needs.
Dec. 17 is when the electoral college will cast their ballots for their state’s election winner. There are 538 electors in total. The 2024 electoral map will look slightly different from the 2020 map since a census was conducted in 2020, and the electoral map is based on state population size. Under the new distribution, 13 states either lost or gained electoral votes. Pennsylvania lost one vote, bringing the state’s votes down to 19, due to a proportionally smaller population relative to the rest of the U.S.
On Jan. 6, both chambers of the U.S. Congress will convene to count and certify the votes of the Electoral College. In the event that a presidential candidate does not win the majority of electoral votes, the 12th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution stipulates that the House of Representatives shall choose the next president by ballot.
Pennsylvania Elections
A Class I Senate seat will be up for election in Pennsylvania. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D), who has represented Pennsylvania as a U.S. Senator since Jan. 3, 2007, making him the longest running democratic senator in Pennsylvania’s history, will run for re-election as his term ends on Jan. 3, 2025.
“I’m running for re-election because, with so much on the line for Pennsylvania’s working families, I want to keep delivering results for Pennsylvania,” Casey said in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian. “There’s still more work to cut through the gridlock, stand up to powerful corporate special interests and make the lives of hardworking Pennsylvanians a little bit easier. I won’t back down from any fight for communities and families across our Commonwealth.”
U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D), representing Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional district which includes West Chester, will also seek re-election in the U.S. House of Representatives. She won the 2022 general election by 16 points.
Sameh Sharoud is a third-year psychology major with a minor in biology. SS1015422@wcupa.edu.