2024 election: Your guide to all the key primaries, debates and what happens next
President Biden and former President Donald Trump are continuing their unimpeded march to a rematch in the 2024 presidential election.
Biden and Trump have each secured enough delegates in March to clinch their party nominations at this summer's conventions.
They each won their respective primaries in Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota on Tuesday. The last votes of the 2024 primary will be cast on June 8, when Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands hold their caucuses.
The first presidential debate is scheduled to take place on June 27 in Atlanta. A second has been scheduled for Sept. 10. A vice presidential debate has not yet been scheduled because Trump has not yet announced a running mate.
Here are some of the key dates and outcomes on this year’s political calendar.
2024 election calendar
Jan. 15: Iowa GOP caucuses
Trump scored a decisive victory, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis edged out Haley for second place. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy finished a distant fourth, suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump.
Jan. 23: New Hampshire primary
Trump defeated Haley, his lone remaining challenger in the GOP race after DeSantis dropped out two days before the primary. Biden won in New Hampshire despite not being on the ballot due to a rift between the Granite State and the Democratic National Committee, which decided to make the South Carolina Democratic primary on Feb. 3 its first formal contest.
Feb. 3: South Carolina Democratic primary
Facing nominal opposition in a state where he has long been a favorite among Democrats, Biden won easily, capturing more than 96% of the vote, with self-help author Marianne Williamson and Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips splitting the rest.
Feb. 6: Nevada primary
Haley suffered an embarrassing loss in the Republican presidential primary in Nevada on Feb. 6, receiving fewer votes than the “none of these candidates” option. It was a contest in which Trump did not compete and the state party tried to have it canceled. Nonetheless, a combination of intense support for Trump and distaste for Haley among Republican voters in the state combined to deal her an unusual humiliation. Biden won Nevada’s Democratic primary handily.
Feb. 8: Nevada and U.S. Virgin Islands caucuses
Trump easily won the Nevada caucuses, as expected. Haley was not on the ballot, but Nevada Republicans made clear that they want Trump to be their nominee against Biden in November’s general election. The former president also won the Virgin Islands Republican caucuses, picking up all four delegates available from the U.S. territory in a contest that Haley had actually campaigned in.
Feb. 13: Long Island special election
Democrat Tom Suozzi won the special election in New York’s Third Congressional District, defeating Republican Mazi Pilip in the race to replace George Santos, who was expelled from Congress in December following a scathing House Ethics Committee report that concluded that Santos “blatantly stole from his campaign.”
Feb. 24: South Carolina Republican primary
Despite Haley serving as the state’s governor for six years, Trump was declared the winner in South Carolina at 7 p.m. ET, just as polls in the state closed.
Feb. 27: Michigan primary
Trump and Biden easily won their respective primaries in a state crucial to each of their presidential election victories. But Biden faced a sizable "uncommitted" protest vote led by Muslim and Arab Americans who have been disillusioned by his response to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. With about 98% of the votes counted, more than 100,000 Michigan Democrats (or 13%) had cast ballots for “uncommitted.”
March 5: Super Tuesday
Trump and Biden swept nearly all of this year’s Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses. Haley won the Vermont Republican primary, denying Trump a clean sweep; Biden lost to political unknown Jason Palmer in the sparsely attended Democratic caucuses in American Samoa.
March 12: Trump and Biden clinch nominations
Both Trump and Biden clinched the nomination for president inside their respective parties in the latest round of state primary contests. The former president has won 1,241 of the 1,215 needed to claim the majority. Biden has 2,107 pledged delegates of the 1,968 needed for the nomination.
March 19: Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas and Ohio primaries
Biden and Trump swept uncontested primaries in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kanas and Ohio, adding hundreds of delegates to their respective tallies and continuing their unimpeded march to the summer conventions, where they will formally accept their parties’ nominations.
There were, however, intriguing downballot contests too. In Ohio, Bernie Moreno — a Trump-backed candidate who faced questions about an online profile seeking casual sexual encounters with men — won the GOP Senate primary and will take on longtime Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in November.
June 4: Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota primaries
Biden and Trump swept their respective primaries in Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota — the last four U.S. states to hold nominating contests this year.
In New Jersey, Rep. Andy Kim won the Democratic primary for Senate in New Jersey, according to the Associated Press. Kim is seeking the seat currently held by Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, who is on trial, facing federal corruption charges. Menendez filed to run for reelection as an independent on Monday. Menendez’s son, Democratic Rep. Rob Menendez, was also projected to survive a primary challenge in his congressional race.
And the late New Jersey Rep. Donald Payne Jr. won the Democratic nomination for another term in the House on Tuesday, weeks after he died in office. A special election to choose someone to serve the remainder of Payne’s current term has already been set; the state's Democratic Party is expected to meet this summer to decide who it will nominate to replace him on the November ballot.
Conventions
July 15-18: Republican National Convention
The event will be held in Milwaukee, which hosted the 2020 Democratic National Convention during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aug. 19-22: Democratic National Convention
The event will be held in Chicago, which has hosted 11 previous Democratic conventions — most recently in 1996, when Bill Clinton and Al Gore were nominated for reelection. It was also the site of the disastrous 1968 Democratic convention, which was held in the wake of the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy and marred by massive antiwar protests that turned violent.
Debates
June 27: Presidential debate
The first presidential debate of the 2024 cycle is set to take place at the end of June in Atlanta. Both candidates have agreed to take part in the event, which will be hosted by CNN.
Sept. 10: Presidential debate
The second presidential debate of the 2024 cycle is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 10. ABC will host the event at a location yet to be determined.
Nov. 5: Election Day
Barring a surprise, it'll be Trump vs. Biden II on Nov. 5. The last time a presidential rematch happened was in 1956, when Republican President Dwight Eisenhower defeated Adlai Stevenson, the same Democrat he had beaten in 1952.
