Shadow campaign: Three politicians testing the waters for a presidential run
Jack Birle
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Several candidates have already declared their candidacy for the 2024 presidential election, but there are a few politicians who are still testing the waters.
These contenders have not said they are running for president, but they’re making moves as if they are running a presidential campaign from the shadows.
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Ron DeSantis
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has visited several key primary states, including Iowa, New Hampshire, Georgia, California, and New York, among other states. Many of the tour stops were to promote his book The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Survival, which was released in February.
In private, DeSantis has reportedly told people he intends to run for president and has claimed to donors that he is the only Republican who can beat President Joe Biden.
The Florida governor’s name has been thrown around the presidential race for months, with a super PAC encouraging DeSantis to run and another super PAC aligned with former President Donald Trump releasing an attack advertisement against DeSantis.
DeSantis, by all indications, is going to make a run for president. He is reportedly expected to announce a White House bid in late May or early June, following the conclusion of the state’s legislative session.
Gavin Newsom
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has insisted that he is not running for president but appears to be quietly positioning himself as a candidate for president in either 2024 or 2028.
Newsom has created the Campaign for Democracy, a political organization aimed at combating Republican leaders in other states by targeting their policies. He vowed to go “on the road to take the fight to states where freedom is most under attack” in his announcement video.
The week after announcing the organization, Newsom was spotted in Florida meeting with students at the New College of Florida. Newsom has been a vocal opponent of DeSantis, saying last week that he would get “rolled” by Trump in the Republican primary.
“He is going to get rolled by Trump. Trump’s just gonna roll him, thumped. Honestly, if I were offering him political advice, I would tell him to pack up and wait a few years,” Newsom said. “And actually do some of the hard work, which actually includes governing not just identity and cultural war.”
Newsom has endorsed Biden for 2024 and has constantly denied rumors of a run for president next year, but he has not commented on running in 2028.
Mike Pence
Former Vice President Mike Pence has made appearances in pivotal primary states, including Iowa and New Hampshire, and spoke at the NRA’s annual conference this weekend.
Pence has previously said that he has received “a lot of encouragement” to jump into the 2024 GOP primary and has teased that an announcement is coming soon.
He has been tracking at third in the Republican primary, per the RealClearPolitics polling average, behind Trump and DeSantis. After four years of serving as a loyal foot soldier for Trump, Pence and the former president’s relationship appeared to be irreparably damaged on Jan. 6, 2021, and he has not been afraid to criticize his former boss since leaving office.
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Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who had long been seen as running a shadow campaign for 2024, announced a presidential exploratory committee last week. Scott has moved closer out of the shadows but is not officially running for president yet.
The only major Republican candidates who have declared are Trump, former Govs. Nikki Haley (R-SC) and Asa Hutchinson (R-AR), and entrepreneur and author Vivek Ramaswamy. On the Democratic side, author Marianne Williamson and lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have declared, while Biden is expected to announce a bid later this year.