It may be a tad-bit early but talking about the elections is important to discuss the leadership of the free world. We will be looking at four people that have not been president since we already know former presidents and their modus operandi. I spoke to two political strategists Ted McCann and Herchal Fink (Republican and Democratic respectively) and I asked them both who they thought might be central figures in the 2024 presidential election. They both said Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Larry Hogan, and Ron DeSantis would most likely be central in 2024.

Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris has run for president in the past. According to Politico she has several firm stances on private prisons, minimum sentencing, consumer protection, abortion and, LGBTQ rights.

According to Politico, “Harris pledged to eliminate private prisons and mandatory minimum sentences as part of a broad proposal to end mass incarceration.” 

Writes Adam Cancryn and Carla Marinucci. “Taking specific aim at policies that overwhelmingly target Black and brown America…Harris has long enjoyed the support of the Democratic base’s most activist women, labor and LGBTQ advocates for her stalwart backing of some signature issues. Those have included abortion rights, enforcement of California’s landmark climate change initiatives, a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and the protection of marriage equality and LGBTQ rights.”

If Harris were to be elected, we would likely see a big push back to the anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ rights movments in the south as well as draining of private prisons.

Pete Buttigieg

Pete Buttigieg has also run for president in the past and he has publicly stated his policy against the Electoral College. He told The Hill, “Twice in my young lifetime I’ve seen the American people overruled by the Electoral College, it’s time for that to go because it’s undemocratic.” He is for public health insurance with NPR saying “Buttigieg would offer public health insurance to those who want it while also keeping private health care plans available.” As well as labor flights according to Politico, “Buttigieg’s plan would raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour and index it to inflation thereafter, mirroring a bill passed by House Democrats in late July.” 

Buttigieg wants to protect the environment by addressing climate change. According to CRFB, he “Seeks to accomplish this through a tax on carbon emissions and a variety of policies to invest in clean energy development and adoption.” He also wants a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and LGBTQ rights. 

If Buttigieg became president we would probably see the start of an open conversation concerning the relevance of the electoral college and whether or not it is damaging democracy, public health insurance, a push to raise the minimum wage, the drafting of a carbon emission tax, a pathway to citizenship, and more LGBTQ rights.

Larry Hogan 

Larry Hogan has never run for president, but it would be interesting for him to run as he is our Governor and his term does run out in January of 2023. He is a big proponent of education, according to Maryland.gov,“Governor Hogan has committed $32 billion toward K-12 education – no governor in state history has ever invested more in Maryland school,” says Maryland.gov. 

Hogan is also interested in the environment under the CARES plan.“Over the last five years, Maryland has become a national leader in energy efficiency and affordable clean energy measures that prioritize the needs of our citizens and the environment.” Also on Maryland.gov.  

Stereotypically Republicans are against gun control.  As stated by the Pew Research Center, “about seven-in-ten Republicans and Republican leaners favor allowing concealed carry in more places (72%) and allowing teachers and officials to carry guns in K-12 schools (69%).” But Hogan disagrees with this idea as he once said on his Twitter, “People are being shot every single day in Baltimore City. This is an urgent crisis, and we have an obligation to do something about it right now. There can be no more excuses and no more delays.” 

Like most republicans (about 72% on average) he does not agree with abortion but “he will not try to change Maryland’s laws protecting women’s rights to the procedure nor to limit access to contraception,” according to Rewright news group. He is also anti-Trump as stated by Politico, “The Maryland governor, an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump.”

So if Hogan was elected in 2024, we would likely see more focus on education, clean energy, more gun control, maybe not a push back to what is going on in the south in terms of abortion, and further roll back of Trump era policies.

Ron DeSantis

When speaking to aforementioned experts out of all the potential candidates the name that came up the most was DeSantis. He has been preparing for a while for a 2024 bid. Looking at his policies he seems to try to be a barely less radical Trump in an attempt to placate Republicans while trying not to scare off Democrat voters.  A good example of this is stance on climate change. He calls himself,“a ‘Teddy Roosevelt conservationist’ and says he differs philosophically with ‘liberal environmentalists,’ isn’t a ‘climate change denier,’ but doesn’t want to be labeled a ‘climate change believer.’” 

DeSantis opposes federal funding for education and wants a more decentralized and state governed “accreditation systems.” In the op-ed “Break up the national education system,” on National Review he said that his legislation would give students “access to federal loan money to put towards non-traditional educational opportunities, such as online learning courses, vocational schools, and apprenticeships in skilled trades.” DeSantis also led an effort to ban the teaching of critical race theory. Critical race theory is a study of thought which examines the intersection of race, society, and law in the United States. Republicans really pushed agents CRT because white fox man says bad. 

As for social issues DeSantis has rated a 0 out of one hundred by the Human Rights Campaign, he signed the Don’t Say Gay or Trans bill and, according to the Human Rights Campaign bills like the Don’t Say Gay or Trans make it so “LGBTQ+ Floridians are more than twice as likely to experience depression or anxiety compared to non-LGBT Floridians.”    

If DeSantis were elected president, we would likely see a more lackadaisical approach to climate change as to not appear to be a “climate change believer,” as well as massive defunding of public education, and further back slide across the nation involving LGBTQ rights.