WASHINGTON — To call the 2024 presidential campaign unprecedented might be an understatement.

A series of shocking events have shaken up this presidential race as Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump sprint to the finish line in hopes of securing the nation’s highest office.

Less than four months ago, Harris wasn’t even in the running.

And Trump, whose bid to return to the White House after a New York murder conviction was already historic, survived two apparent assassination attempts.

The Democratic and Republican presidential candidates are in a head-to-head contest that could be decided by just a handful of voters in seven swing states.

On Election Day in the United States, here’s a look at the highs — and lows — of the historic 2024 presidential campaign:

A Trump-Biden rematch

Trump and then-Democratic presidential nominee President Joe Biden drew multiple challengers as they competed for their respective parties’ nominations.

Trump certainly had a more competitive group of primary challengers.

While the former president faces four separate criminal prosecutions and the memory of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol is fresh in the minds of voters, a field that includes former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis , former Vice President Mike Pence, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson sought the Republican nomination.

Biden’s most serious challenger appeared from the beginning of the primaries to be Rep. USA Dean Phillipswho was little known outside his district in Minnesota. But in the end, the incumbent lost several votes to Democrats who chose “Not Committed” instead of supporting Biden on his handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

After scoring victories on Super Tuesday in March, both Trump and Biden secured the number of delegates needed to secure their parties’ nominations.

Third parties also tried to make their mark during the 2024 presidential campaign, perhaps most notably Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — an environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist.

Kennedy suspended his independent presidential campaign in August and endorsed Trump.

Meanwhile, independent presidential candidate Cornel West and the Green Party candidate Jill Stein both are vying for the White House on third-party bids.

And amid the ongoing war in Gaza, pro-Palestinian organizers have put pressure on both the Biden administration and Harris as she runs for the Oval Office through the Non-Aligned National Movement.

The movement saw a wide range of organizers protesting Biden’s policies on the Israel-Hamas war and calling for an arms embargo and ceasefire.

Biden bows, Harris stands

After the primaries in both parties, Biden and Trump were set for a rematch in the 2020 race and scheduled a general election debate for the end of June.

Biden’s disastrous performance, in which he spoke slowly and appeared to lose his train of thought at times, sparked an outcry from Democratic lawmakers who urged him to drop his White House bid.

Less than a month later, while battling a COVID-19 infection at home, Biden dropped out of the race and passed the torch to Harris.

The Veep then embarked on a rapid and unprecedented presidential campaign. If elected, she would become the first female president, the first president of South Asian descent, and the second black president.

The summer months also saw the formal nominations of Trump and Harris’ running mates — Ohio GOP Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz — as both parties roused supporters at their national conventions.

Assassination attempts against Trump

Trump survived an assassination attempt in July during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where officials say a suspected assassin killed one rally attendee, wounded two others and shot the former president in the ear.

The attack prompted a series of federal investigations and a bipartisan congressional task force to investigate.

US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, whose agency faced a deluge of scrutiny following the attack, resigned just days later.

In September, authorities responded to a second apparent assassination attempt against Trump while he was playing golf at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, raising even more questions about the former president’s safety and security.

Trump’s legal battles are at the center of the campaign

Against the background of his presidential bid, Trump has been caught up in several legal battles and has had to balance court appearances with his campaign schedule.

Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in May in a New York court. He is the first former US president to be convicted of criminal offenses.

He has also been charged in one federal election interference case and one Georgia election interference case.

A classified federal documents case against him has been dropped, at least for now.

His federal election interference case was put on hold for several months earlier this year while his request for presidential immunity played out in the courts.

This argument reached the US Supreme Court, which found that presidents are granted full immunity from criminal charges for any “constitutionally basic” official act, although they have no immunity for any unofficial act.

A Trump victory in the White House could greatly influence how the rest of his legal battles play out in the courts — and whether they continue.

The end of the 2024 presidential campaign

Harris and Trump sparred in a presidential debate in September, trading barbs while making their own policy proposals.

As polls have repeatedly depicted Trump and Harris in a very tight race in which neither has a measurable lead, the two have spent most of their campaigning in the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina , Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. .

Trump’s campaign received backlash over comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s racist and vulgar remarks during a rally in late October at New York’s Madison Square Garden, including calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash.”

And in what her campaign called her “closing argument,” Harris asked voters last week to reject Trump’s “chaos and division.” She spoke to more than 75,000 viewers, according to campaign estimates.

She delivered her speech at the Ellipse in Washington, DC – where Trump held a rally on January 6, 2021, before his supporters stormed the US Capitol.

As the country comes to the end of a grueling and winding presidential campaign, voters will soon determine whether Harris or Trump will be the next leader of the free world.

Last updated at 6:30 a.m., November 5, 2024