US Presidential elections: Who will be Donald Trump’s running mate?

We take a look.

But first, what is a running mate?

The US Constitution provides for both a president and a vice-president. While the president is the head of the executive and the most powerful person in the country, the VP is next in line (if the president dies in office or is incapacitated), and acts as an advisor and representative to the president.

A running mate is simply a particular party’s vice presidential candidate, chosen by the presidential candidate during the campaign. Voters vote for the president and vice-president as a team.

“The presidential candidate generally wants to choose a running mate who will help them get elected,” Chris Edelson, Assistant Professor of Government at the American University in Washington DC, told The Indian Express in 2020. There are no hard and fast rules, but political considerations are generally kept in mind while making the choice.

A system of running mates can also be seen in countries such as Indonesia and Brazil.

Who all are in the running to be Trump’s running mates?

Following are some names that have been doing the rounds in the media. Note that Donald Trump has not himself made the decision, or dropped any hints, although Politico reported this week that “Trump has told his inner circle he has made a selection”.

1. Rep Elise Stefanik (R-NY)

Elise Stefanik poses for a photo after speaking at Team Trump New Hampshire Headquarters on January 20. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

A former George Bush aide, who also worked in Mitt Romney’s unsuccessful 2012 presidential campaign, Stefanik, 39, was once seen as a rising young moderate Republican. However, she has taken a sharp turn to the right in recent years. She made national headlines in 2023 for lambasting university presidents over their handling of anti-Israel protests on campuses. She has been highly critical of Nikki Haley for continuing her campaign, calling it an “effort to divide Republicans” and “assist Joe Biden”.

2. South Dakota Gov Kristi Noem

Noem, 52, is a long-time Trump loyalist who became South Dakota Governor in 2019 with an endorsement from Trump. Her devotion to Trump is such that in 2021, she gifted the former president a replica of Mount Rushmore with his likeness imposed alongside presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Prior to her governorship, she served multiple terms in the House of Representatives, and the South Dakota statehouse.

3. Sen JD Vance (R-Ohio)

A Yale Law School graduate and venture capitalist, Vance, 39, rose to fame as author of Hillbilly Elegy in 2016, a memoir about his family’s experience of rural poverty in Appalachia. While once a prominent Trump critic, even publicly calling him “America’s Hitler”, Vance became one of the former president’s loudest supporters and secured his endorsement for his 2022 Senate bid. In an interview earlier this week, he called Trump “more electable” than Haley.

4. Kari Lake

Kari Lake speaks at a Trump rally in New Hampshire on January 21. (REUTERS/Reba Saldanha)

Lake, 54, had a decades-long career as a TV presenter before entering politics. A former Democrat who publicly supported Barack Obama, Lake later became a committed Trump supporter and one of the most vocal voices of Trump’s Maga movement. She unsuccessfully ran to be Arizona governor in 2022, though refused to accept the results of the election. She is now seeking a GOP nomination to challenge incumbent Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz).

5. Sen Tim Scott (R-SC)

Trump reacts as Tim Scott speaks during Trump’s New Hampshire presidential primary election night watch on January 23. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)

Scott, 58, led a campaign to become Republican nominee for president, but dropped out soon after failing to generate much traction in the polls. One of the GOP’s black faces, Scott is the only black Republican in the US Senate. He endorsed Donald Trump on the eve of the New Hampshire primary. Experts say choosing Scott as running mate could help undermine Democrats’s accusations of racism against Trump and the GOP.

6. Arkansas Gov Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Sanders, 41, came into national prominence as White House press secretary in the Donald Trump administration, from 2017-19. She was also senior advisor to Trump’s 2016 campaign, and a hardcore loyalist. She was elected as Arkansas governor in 2022, and has made headlines off and on for her anti-abortion, anti-climate change views and policies. She is the daughter of Mike Huckabee, two-time Arkansas governor and former Republican presidential candidate.

7. Vivek Ramaswamy

Vivek Ramaswamy with Trump on January 23. (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)

India-origin Ramaswamy, 38, dropped out of the Republican primary field earlier this month. An entrepreneur-turned-politician, he claims that the United States is in the middle of a national identity crisis precipitated by “new secular religions like COVID-ism, climate-ism, and gender ideology”. While he has been both critical and laudatory of Trump in the past. He claims that Nikki Haley is being propped up by her “donor puppet masters” to keep Trump off the ballot.

8. Nikki Haley

Nikki Haley speaks at a New Hampshire primary night rally on Jan 23. (AP Photo)

Indian-origin Haley, 52, is the last person standing against Trump in the Republican field. The former South Carolina governor, and US Ambassador to the UN (during the Trump administration), has been extremely critical of Trump in recent weeks. According to Politico, people close to Trump have privately warned him that choosing Haley as running mate would effectively set himself up for an intra-party coup. However, others see someone who could make a Trump nomination more palatable to moderate Republicans and independents. Haley herself has said that she will not be a part of a Trump administration, in any capacity.