In six months, voters will likely pick between frontrunners Donald Trump and President Joe Biden when they head to the polls for the 2024 presidential election.
Trump has yet to pick a vice presidential running mate for his campaign, which continued to be a key topic of discussion and something people are betting on.
What Happened: Trump has not selected a vice presidential running mate for this 2024 campaign after a falling out with his former vice president, Mike Pence.
Over the past several months, several members of the Republican party have emerged as potential running mates of Trump including members of Congress, governors and politicians who ran against him in the Republican primary.
A new candidate fits both the governor and people who ran against him categories. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has emerged as a potential vice president pick by Trump.
According to Politico, Burgum quietly became a serious candidate to consider as vice president.
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) questioned the chatter initially because of the state often going to a Republican and having a small number of electoral college votes.
Cramer now said Burgum's knowledge of foreign policy, economic policy and energy could help make him a strong vice-presidential candidate.
"Nobody has played their cards better since the primary," political adviser Scott Jennings told Politico. "Trump is a casting director. Who looks more like a VP than Burgum?"
Jennings said Burgum, who is one of the richest governors in the country, could also help with fundraising efforts. Burgum previously led a software company that was sold to Microsoft and is well-connected in the sector. Burgum has been helping make calls for donations according to the report.
Burgum has also appeared at several Trump campaign events in states other than his home state of North Dakota. The governor has also been spotted making trips to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Trump.
Some political experts have questions if Burgum being selected does enough to appeal to non-Republican voters or if Trump is weighing picking a woman to appeal to another voter demographic.
Burgum emerging as a potential favorite as a vice-presidential candidate comes as South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem faced backlash after sharing she killed a family dog that was ruled to be untrainable.
The North Dakota governor previously ran in the 2024 presidential race, competing against Trump to win the Republican party nomination. Burgum took part in the first two Republican presidential debates before failing to qualify for the third debate.
Burgum was selected by several polls as the candidate who performed the worst in the first Republican debate.
In polls of registered Republican voters in November, Burgum got only 1% of the vote, compared to leading Trump opponents like Ron DeSantis (14%) and Nikki Haley (10%) getting double-digit support.
Burgum dropped out of the presidential race in December before the fourth Republican debate. Elected as the governor of North Dakota in 2016, Burgum won reelection by a wide margin in the 2020 election. In January, Burgum ruled out running for a third term in the 2024 gubernatorial election.
Related Link: Trump Vs. Biden: 2024 Election Poll Shows Tie Broken — Which Candidate Gains Support From His Party, Independent Voters?
Betting Odds: Calling itself the world's largest prediction market, Polymarket offers betting on items in categories such as politics, sports, cryptocurrency, pop culture and more.
On Polymarket, users deposit to Polygon MATIC/USD using USDC USDC/USD and can deposit with Ethereum ETH/USD.
The site offers the market for who Trump will select as his vice president. More than $20 million has been bet on the market, up from $17 million at the end of April.
The platform, which cashes out winning wagers at $1 offers several selections for Trump's potential vice president pick. Here are the current odds, with odds from April 29 in parentheses:
Other Man: 20% (13%)
Tim Scott: 19% (22%)
JD Vance: 13% (6%)
Marco Rubio: 9% (5%)
Other Woman: 8% (12%)
Elise Stefanik: 5% (8%)
Ron DeSantis: 2% (3%)
Kristi Noem: 1% (4%)
The odds include several other candidates but Burgum is not listed as an individual option. This means a win by Burgum as the vice presiential candidate would cash out the "other man" option, which is currently the favorite.
Stefanik and Noem were the favorites back in January with Scott the betting favorite on April 29, which means Burgum or another male candidate not listed have passed the other former favorites as the current betting frontrunner.
Photo: Aaron of L.A. Photography via Shutterstock
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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