President Obama was elected for president in November of 2008 and has spent his seven years in presidency pushing for change and advocating civil rights for immigrants. Leaving him at the end of his last term in office, leaving us in the running for a new presidential candidate in November, 2016. The candidates have already declared themselves to run for presidency, and people already have a generalization of who they are expecting to vote for.

There are currently five primary Republican candidates for the 2016 presidential election. They consist of Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Jeb Bush, Rand Paul and Mike Huckabee. There are still several potential candidates for the Republican party who have not yet declared whether they will run for presidency or not. Each candidate, bringing their own unique ideas for the U.S., has a lot to offer to the presidential seat and will do so to emphasize those qualities in their upcoming campaigns.

Miami, Florida’s own Marco Rubio declared himself to run for presidency last April. Although he mainly polls in the middle of Republican candidates, he holds a strong opinion on the subject of updating our current immigration system, mainly due to the fact that his dad was a Cuban immigrant back in the 50’s. He has also declared himself to be very conservative and has openly spoken of reforming our educational system and focusing on relations between the U.S., Iran and Israel.

Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, has made a name for himself in politics as a ruthless conservative. He surprised fellow politicians when he held no regard of his one year “grace period” as governor, where he would take time to settle in and instead began to take on one of the largest competitors to politicians, the union. Another part of his career was his passing of Wisconsin Act 10 and 32, which resulted in waves of protests that resulted in the recall of Walker.

Another child of the Bush family has declared for presidency, son of 41st president George H. W. Bush, Jeb Bush. Jeb Bush has made a name for himself due to his family’s success in politics, but has been regarded by some as “liberal” in his quest to achieve the GOP (Grand Old Party) nomination. He has been known to be a strong supporter of the death penalty, and he has also maintained his Republican title by lowering taxes, cutting the size of state government and lowering the spending for public projects, all while in office as governor of Florida.

A Duke graduate and the son of Texas Congressman Ron Paul, Rand Paul was not expected to follow his fathers footsteps into a political position. But in 2008, when he accompanied his father on several political campaigns, he seemed to connect with voters, making political online history when his campaign made over $480,000 in donations. Directly after his announcement of his intention to run for candidacy, he began his campaigning adopting the slogan, “Defeat the Washington Machine, Unleash the American Dream.”

Mike Huckabee is no stranger to politics, he was runner up to McCain in 2008. After his loss to McCain, he took some leisure time and became a talk show host, as well as a public speaker. He then denied to run in 2012, but has now declared his intention to run for presidency in 2016. Huckabee was governor of Arkansas for two terms and showed his Republican colors by cutting the state’s capital gain tax, removing the marriage penalty and putting a $90 million tax cut package through to legislature. Although he is most known for his economic approach, he does not shy away from voicing his opinion on social issues such as abortion and gay marriage.

The 2016 presidential election can presumably be a race to remember, with strong candidates in both major political parties, with largely known advocates such as Hilary Clinton and Jeb Bush. The presidential seat could follow the last two terms and remain Democratic or could possibly take a new seat and try a Republican standpoint on our nations dilemmas. Either way, voters can expect changes to come with whoever is elected in the upcoming 2016 presidential election.