Johnson announced his entry into the race for the Republican Party's nomination for the 2024 US presidential election to a group of supporters on Thursday night.

Republican businessman Perry Johnson, who was disqualified from the Michigan governor's primary last year for submitting thousands of forged signatures, has announced his candidacy for the 2024 US presidential race.

According to Lusa, Johnson announced his entry into the race for the Republican Party nomination for the 2024 US presidential election to a group of supporters on Thursday night, his campaign team said.

A few hours earlier, the businessman had spoken at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the most important conference of the ultra-conservative movement in the United States and of which former President Donald Trump is a "headliner".

The businessman did not directly mention his presidential campaign during his speech at CPAC, where several other potential candidates are expected to present their intentions by Saturday, the last day of the event.

Johnson was even considered one of the Republican Party's leading candidates in 2022, in the race for governor of Michigan, before being, along with four other Republican candidates, disqualified for invalid signatures.

Election officials in that state said Johnson turned in 13,800 valid signatures, but thousands of them were fake.

Perry Johnson thus adds his name to the short list of Republicans who have already announced their intention to run in the 2024 presidential election, including former President Donald Trump and former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.

However, other possible Republican challengers are expected to emerge in the coming months, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

With the Republican Party primary elections taking place between February and June next year, the field of presidential candidates has been growing and this year's CPAC, organized by the American Conservative Union, will serve as the first barometer in the race to choose the candidate who will try to regain control of the White House next year.