2024 Presidential Election (Alt. King's World)

The 2024 United States presidential election was the 60th quadrennial American presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. The Democratic ticket of Vice President Kamala Harris and Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown narrowly defeated Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem in the general election. Vice President Harris and Governor Gretchen Whitmer were inaugurated as the 47th President and 50th Vice President of the United States. Upon her inauguration, Harris became the first woman and first Asian President. Her husband Doug Emhoff became the first first gentleman in US history.

America also for the first time had a woman President and Vice President and both the first and second spouse for were males.

Democratic Primary
After the midterms, were the Democrats narrowly held the House and kept the Senate. Speculation immediately ensued whether or not President Biden would be seeking re-election. After many months of dodging the question, on April 25 2023, the 4 year anniversary of him entering the 2020 race, he announced he would not be seeking re-election for family reasons. With Joe Biden officially out the race, Democrats across the country awaited for the Vice President to announce her campaign. July 2023, Vice President Harris in an Oakland rally announced that she would be running for President of the United States. Being the incumbent Vice President, Kamala Harris faced no serious opposition in the primary and was able to focus on the general election right away. Upon the announcement of her campaign, major Democrats immediately lined up behind her. She received the endorsement of nearly every sitting Democratic Senator and over 80% of the Democratic House Caucus. Being able to focus on the general election right away, gave her a upper hand that the Republicans did not have.

Democratic Ticket
Running Mate:

Media speculation about Kamala Harris's potential running mate was rampant from the moment she announced. it only grew after she announced that the process had been started in March 2024. The list included many names such as Roy Cooper, Gretchen Whitmer, Mark Kelly and Ben Lujan. Late June, it was reported by CNN that Kamala had lowered it to 5 finalists - Andy Beshear, Roy Cooper, Gretchen Whitmer, Pete Buttigieg and Jon Ossoff. In the end, Gretchen Whitmer won out in the Veepstakes. Kamala listed many reasons but Whitmer was someone she knew personally and trusted he would be a honest and effective Vice President. The excitement behind the ticket was ecstatic throughout the party. Progressives praised the pick as Gretchen was a proven progressive.

Republican Primary
The Republican Primary had a very crowded field of over 40 candidates from all over. Once Donald Trump announced that he would not be running again, immediately major Republican party players leapt in to action and began to announce their campaigns. Entering the race, Mike Pence and Ron DeSantis were immediate frontrunners. Mike Pence began the leader of the establishment old school wing of the party. Ron DeSantis represented the more Trump like populist wing of the party. Pence campaigned on a electability argument and a GOP party that connects with everyone. DeSantis campaigned on a right wing populism and built on Trump's style but less brash. DeSantis was able to keep second place while Pence won first place in Iowa and New Hampshire. But a first place victory in Nevada, allowed DeSantis to sweep to first place with a stunning victory in South Carolina, he crushed Super Tuesday and soon became the winner.

Running Mate:

Ron DeSantis's vetting process wasn't nearly as long as Kamala's. DeSantis's vetting committee focused more on certain people while having others as back ups. DeSantis narrowed his options down to Haley, Noem, Pompeo, and Ernst. He chose Noem, as he connected with her best and saw her as the key to the Midwest.

General Election
The general election kicked off officially when the Republicans ended their convention in August. Polling had showed the race was close, with Harris leading on average by 5 to 6 points. States that were deemed pure toss-ups were Wisconsin, Texas and North Carolina. The Democrats had all but conceded Florida on the presidential level to DeSantis, as polling showed he was very strong. However in reverse, the Republicans were ceding Georgia to the Democrats, after the 2022 blowout in the midterms and polling.

Vice President Harris mainly campaigned in the sunbelt while Gretchen handled campaigning more so in the Midwest. Harris campaigned most in the states of Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Texas. In the last 50 days of the campaign trail, He took only 10 trips outside of the Midwest. The Biden's, Obamas and Clintons hit the trail for the Democratic ticket. Harris and Whitmer did as many as 15 joint rallies together.

DeSantis focused more so in the sun belt, he campaigned heavily in Texas. Noem was sent to campaign in the Midwest, to counter Gretchen's appeal. Republicans were nervous that with Gretchen on the ticket, she alone would flip Ohio and keep WI, MI and PA from flipping. Worried that turnout would not be as high, the Republicans got President Trump to hit the trail in many states as many as 25 states to juice up the base. President Bush campaigned but more so for congressional Republicans and not the ticket.

Debates
The debates proved bad for Republicans. For the Presidential debates, polls and spectators agreed that Harris had won all 3 debates. Governor DeSantis put up a great fight for the debates, but Harris had more experience when it came to debating. Although they both had law degrees, Harris had much more law and courtroom experience. Joe Biden joked on his way to Marine One, "You don't beat an Attorney General". Vice President Harris was nearly 20 years older, which allowed her to sharpen her skills longer.

For the Vice Presidential debate, Gretchen in almost all polls was declared the winner by viewers. Governor Noem did her best to keep up with Governor Whitmer. However Governor Whitmer had much more depth and knowledge of policy then the Governor. This allowed Whitmer to outsmart Noem.

Election Night
On Election Day, the race was close with Harris leading by around 3 points. This could mean, the race could be a repeat of 2016 with Harris winning the popular vote and losing the electoral college. In the end, the Harris/Whitmer ticket proved victorious and they won. While the electoral vote margin was greater than 100, they were decided by less than 450,000 votes. The Governors were gracious in their defeat and wished Harris and Whitmer luck. As President, Harris invited Ron to the White House for a sit down to talk, and Gretchen did the same thing for Noem.