Liberty Expose: From Doug Burgum to John Castro: The Lesser Known Republican Presidential Candidates
From Top Left To Right: Will Herd, Perry Johnson, Asa Hutchinson, Doug Burgum, Steve Laffey, Corey Stapleton, John Anthony Castro, and Larry Elders.
The Republican primary is dominated by top personalities such as Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and Vivek Ramaswamy. It leaves other candidates with little attention, no coverage, or forgotten entirely. Many people examining their 2024 GOP prospects could easily overlook the numerous candidates that are running for United States president.
Doug Burgum
The governor of North Dakota, Doug Burgum, has assumed a decent name in the role of political leadership. A former tech businessman, he assumed office as governor on December 15, 2016. Even with no political experience beforehand, Burgin handily won the governorship in 2016 with 76.5% of the votes. Again winning reelection in 2020 with 65.8% of the vote. He initially announced his presidential candidacy via a video he posted on X (formally known as Twitter) on June 5, 2023.
Growing up in a small town in North Dakota, his primary issues were primarily focused on economics, energy, and national security. He stated that he was uninterested in cultural war issues.
His tech business background has left him currently the second wealthiest presidential candidate in the GOP primary behind Donald Trump. A supposed net worth of $1.1 billion. His campaign for the presidency has garnered him between 1 and 4 percent in the primary polls. Still, upwards of 90% of American voters state they do not know who he is. It has become necessary to tap into the large percentage of Americans with whom do not know Doug Burgum in order to increase his odds of winning the primary nomination.
John Anthony Castro
While having never held political office, John Anthoney Casto started his bid in American politics as a Democrat for the Webb County Court of Commissioners in 2004. He would come in last place, receiving less than 500 votes. He was 19 years old. Now he self-identifies as a fiscal conservative.
In 2020, John ran for a senatorial seat in Texas but lost in the primaries, receiving less than 5% of the vote. Similarly, he ran in 2021 and again did not make it out of the primaries. Now he is attempting to run for an American president, announcing in December 2022.
During John's stay in politics, he founded a tax consulting firm, Castro and Co., in 2014 in Orlando, Florida. This seems to motivate his top interest in America, which is cutting spending, reducing the deficit, and embracing new technological innovation.
Shortly after announcing his campaign, John Castro prepared an insurrection lawsuit against President Donald Trump to bar him from running for reelection.
Will Hurd
A former operative and cyber security expert for the CIA, Will Hurd served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 23rd congressional district (a swing district) from 2015 to 2021. After representing the people of Texas, Will Hurd became a Resident Fellow at the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago. In May of that year, was appointed to the board of directors for OpenAI.
A moderate conservative whose platform focuses on running towards the future, the crime and drug epidemic, safety and education in the classroom, as well as the role artificial intelligence will play in affecting America and its people. His history working in the text industry and cyberspace at the CIA has influenced his perception of the use future technology will have on the country.
He is currently polling at around.03 percent as another long-shot candidate in the 2024 Republican primary race. His ability to operate in a swing district led Will Hurd to be perceived as a moderate or a return to normalcy that could unify individuals that are outside liberal and conservative extremes.
Asa Hutchinson
Asa Hutchinson, one of only two Republicans mentioned, was present in the First Republican debate in Wisconsin in 2023. The other being Doug Burgin. Attorney and businessman Asa Hutchinson served as the 46th governor of Arkansas from 2015 to 2023, In 1982, Hutchinson was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas by President Ronald Reagan. Under the Bush administration, he was nominated as Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration. He was later appointed as the Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security at the newly established Department of Homeland Security in 2003. Hutchinson would run for governor in 2006 but would lose to Democrat Mike Beebe.
The main staples of his agenda is support for aid to Ukraine, denouncing government mandates but supporting private renewable energy development. Hutchinson touts a return to the old time of Republican Regan and Bush-era politics.
Ever since his presence in the Republican debate state, Asa Hutchinson has remained consistent in polls, sitting at around.5% in the Republican Primary.
Hutchinson's traditionalist Republican nature has put him at odds with other Republicans, particularly Donald Trump, with whom he too has been very vocal about the actions of the party and the president.
Larry Elder
With no traditional political career, Larry Elder has spent much of his life in the media and on the radio. A former attorney and graduate of Brown University and the University of Michigan, he began co-hosting a topic-oriented television show in 1988 called Fabric. Later, hosting the PBS program National Desk In 1997. This work would later lead to The Larry Elder Show, which was a local California radio show program on the KABC Los Angeles radio station, running from 1993 to 2008 and again from 2010 to 2014. In 2000, Elder won a Los Angeles Area Emmy Award for his KCAL-TV News special Making Waves.
His popularity in the State of California allowed for a competitive campaign during the recall of Gavin Newsom in 2021. Larry Elder would receive the majority (648,067, or 43.63% of the vote), making him the successor of the Governor of California. The recall would ultimately fail, and Gavin Newsome would retain his seat.
It was April 20, 2023, when Elder announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president in 2024. His platform is based on his first-hand knowledge of the democratic policy that has plagued states like California, fighting critical race theory (CRT), division equity and inclusion, and restoring American cities by addressing street crimes and drug epidemics. Based on his own description, he describes himself as a libertarian.
Controversy erupted as Larry Elder was not allowed at this first Republican debate after being qualified to participate. Arguments about his polling numbers led the GOP to not allow Elder to attend the debate. By most metrics, however, he still sits around.5% in primary election polls.
Perry Johnson
Perry Johnson, a businessman, announced his bid for president on March 2, 2023. He founded Perry Johnson, Inc., which presented seminars on quality standards and created the ISO 9000 standards (a set of internationally recognized standards for quality assurance and management). This process was adopted and used by many companies, such as General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford Motor Company.
Johnson did attend to run for Governor of Michigan in 2021; however, he failed to meet the requirement of 15,000 valid signatures necessary to appear on the ballot after it was found that 9,400 of the signatures his campaign submitted were invalid and fraudulent. This caused Johnson to attempt to appeal to the state supreme courts, but it was ultimately rejected.
Johnson's running on what he feels to be the biggest issues: the national debt and balancing the budget. Followed by the economic stability of the country.
On March 2, 2023, he announced his presidential campaign. Johnson has almost exclusively been campaigning in Iowa, hoping to win a large enough percentage in that state's caucus to be eligible for future events. This strategy has allowed him to receive 7.8 percent of the presidential straw poll (second place) at the Turning Point Action Conferences in July 2023. However, general primary polls are much more unfavorable, often leaving him unlisted.
Steve Laffey
The mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island, Steve Laffey, is a populist fiscal conservative whose prerogative is fixing the social security system in the United States.
His main political experience comes from his position as mayor from 2003 to 2007. Laffey nearly won his first term as mayor by a difference of 1,329 votes. His reelections favored him much better, as he went on to win 65% of the election participants. Laffey attempted one other complaint for the United States Senator by losing the primary to the incumbent Republican, Lincoln Chafee.
In February 2023, Laffey announced he would seek the Republican nomination for the 2024 United States presidential election. Although Steven Laffey’s lack of popularity leads him to not garner enough support to show up in major election polls.
Corey Stapleton
Corey Stapleton was a member of the Montana State Senate from 2001 to 2009 and later served as the Secretary of State of Montana from 2017 to 2021. In between these two periods, Stapleton ran for governor of Montana in 2012. He would lose the primary to the former U.S. Congressman Rick Hill. In 2013, he decided to run for the U.S. Senate and challenge longtime Democratic incumbent Max Baucus. Again, Stapleton lost the Republican primary. On June 15, 2019, Stapleton announced his 2020 candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the Republican primary for the third time.
After announcing his presidency, Stapleton has only been able to raise 8,253.01 dollars towards his campaign as of June 30, 2023.
Regardless, Stapleton's main platform is positivity and a forward outlook on America's future. Away from the anger and fear that separate Americans and repairing the divide between political parties.
With so much air time dedicated to just a few candidates, it is often the case that many will be overlooked by the seemingly inevitable nature of the current frontrunners. The Republican primaries are filled with candidates with various platforms and political perspectives. With so many big personalities, it becomes difficult to stand out to the American people. With time before the presidential election, it is not impossible for a long-shot or breakout candidate to emerge and claim the GOP nomination.