Early voting for the 2024 presidential election in Texas begins 17 days before election day on Nov. 5 and ends four days before. Below are the stances on some issues, as well as a short overview of the candidates.

Kamala Harris – Democratic Party Nominee

Vice President Harris entered the race as the democratic nominee with President Joe Biden’s endorsement after he dropped out of the race. She graduated from Howard University and The University of California’s Hastings College of the Law. Her career began with her working at The Alameda County District Attorney’s office. She then worked for the San Francisco District Attorney’s office and later was elected as District Attorney. Her running mate is Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Walz enlisted in the Army National Guard at 17 and within his 24 years of service rose to the rank of Command Sergeant Major. He then became a high school teacher and football coach, later becoming a member of congress and state governor. Harris does not currently have specific policies stated on her campaign website, kamalaharris.com.

Abortion: Kamala Harris supports nationwide reproductive rights for all women. She went on a 

Reproductive Freedoms Tour in multiple states and has promised to sign legislation protecting the right to abortion nationally. 

Palestine and Israel: Harris has expressed support for Israel saying that the country has a right to defend itself. However, she has expressed concern for the situation in Gaza and supports a ceasefire.

Gun Control: Harris has said that if elected, she will pass universal background checks, red flag laws and an assault weapons ban. 

Mexican-American Border: Harris has stated that she believes the Mexican-American Border can not be reduced to a political issue, and in the past has supported a bipartisan border security deal, however said deal didn’t make it into law.

Donald Trump – Republican Party Nominee 

Former President Trump was the 45th president of the United States. He was born in Queens, New York and attended school at the New York Military Academy and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance and Commerce. He took over his father’s real estate company in 1971 and first tried for president in 2000, running in a few Reform Party presidential primaries. In 2016, he won the presidential election as the Republican party candidate. His running mate is Senator J.D. Vance, a veteran and now a Senator of Ohio. Trump’s core promises are listed in Agenda 47, a list of 20 of Trump’s promises covering a variety of issues for if he gets elected. This includes, but is not limited to, tax cuts for workers, ending inflation, rebuilding United States cities, canceling the electric vehicle mandate, protecting social security and medicaid with no cuts and no changes in the age of retirement and keeping the US dollar as the world reserve currency.

Abortion: Trump does not have a statement on abortion on his website and his stance is currently unclear.

Palestine and Israel: While his website does not address the direct conflict, he does say he intends to deport anyone pro-Hamas and wants to make American college campuses “safe and patriotic again”.

Gun Control: Trump says he will defend the Constitution, Bill of Rights and fundamental freedoms including the second amendment right to bear arms.

Mexican-American Border: Trump intends to, if elected, seal the border and stop what he has called on his website “the migrant invasion.” He also intends to carry out the largest deportation operation in United States history.

Chase Oliver – Libertarian Party Nominee

Oliver was born in Nashville, Tennessee and now lives in Atlanta, Georgia. He began his career working in the restaurant industry, and has worked in multinational liner service in the import shipping business. He previously ran for public office in Georgia’s fifth congressional district in 2020 and Georgia Senate in 2022. He did not win either election. His running mate is Mike Ter Maat, a fellow Libertarian who previously ran for office in Florida’s 20th congressional district in 2022. Oliver’s platform consists of reducing inflation, making a prospering economy, lowering the cost of healthcare, removing federal involvement in education, ending the student debt crisis, defending privacy and civil liberties, ending the war on drugs, ending the death penalty and addressing issues in the justice system.

Abortion: Oliver would like to encourage states to make abortions legal, to allow individuals and their doctors to make the decision themselves. He would like to support the Hyde Amendment, which stops the funding of abortion clinics through federal dollars. He would also like to encourage states to incentivise alternatives to abortion, such as adoption by easing the burdens that may drive people away, such as the cost of adoption.

Palestine and Israel: Oliver would like to completely stop sending aid to Israel, as well as Ukraine in an attempt to stop all wars and bring peace. While Oliver does not address the conflicts directly on his website, Oliver speaks to war as a whole. Oliver states that he would allow private parties to contribute funds and weapons to allies with no fear of federal persecution, while not funding or intervening with other nations’ wars.

Gun Control: Oliver fully supports all citizens’ right to bear arms. If elected he will not support any new gun restrictions and will try to appeal any existing restrictions. He plans to nominate judiciary judges that also support the right to bear arms. Oliver also intends to extend the ruling of District of Columbia v. Heller, which ruled that trigger locks and other restrictions of the sort are unconstitutional, to all bans.

Mexican-American Border: Oliver has not addressed the Mexican-American Border directly, however he has thoroughly addressed immigration, suggesting bringing back an Ellis Island style immigration and saying he intends to collaborate with Congress to do so, if elected. He would also like to make the process to earn citizenship easier for immigrants who are in the United States, as well as creating a process for residents eligible for DACA and children of foreign workers who are in the county on a temporary work visa, to be given citizenship. Finally, Oliver would like to expand H1B visas and startup visas.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – Independent 

Kennedy was a democrat his whole life, however he drifted away from the party and on Oct. 9, 2023 he announced he was running for president as an independent. Kennedy is an environmentalist, having worked as an attorney for RiverKeeper, an environmental nonprofit, and having co-founded WaterKeep alliance, as well as being its president for 21 years. His running mate is Nicole Shanahan, an attorney and tech entrepreneur. Kennedy has introduces the hashtag, #AmericaStrong, and in service of that platform he has pledged that if elected he will, appoint a cabinet consisting of Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and people who do not identify with any party, to select supreme judges by bringing together a cross partisan committee to advice and appoint judges, prevent the use of the Justice Department and all government agencies to surveil or undermine political opponents and their supporters and use direct democracy initiatives to give the American people a direct voice in guiding legislation and scrutinizing the budget.

Abortion: Rather than taking the stance of pro-life or pro-choice, Kennedy has created a policy called “More Choices, More Life”. The idea of this policy is to “reduce abortions in our country… by offering more choices to women and families” according to Kennedy’s website, kennedy24.com. The focal point of the policy is a subsidized daycare initiative, using funds being put towards the war in Ukraine and funneling them towards paying for childcare for the three million children under five who live below the poverty line. 

Palestine and Israel: In an interview with Reuters, Kennedy stated that he fully supports Israel and questioned the need for the ceasefire supported by President Biden.

Gun Control: Kennedy said “[He is] not going to take people’s guns away,” but will find ways to protect America’s children from school shootings, “even if that means protecting schools the same way we do airlines.”

Mexican-American Border: Kennedy sees the issues at the Mexican-American border as a humanitarian crisis which he intends to solve by sealing the border from illegal immigration, address asylum claims  and expand lawful immigration. 

Undecided – Green Party 

The Green Party will choose its presidential nominee during the Green National Convention which will take place virtually from Aug. 15 – Aug. 18.