2020 United States presidential election (Owen's version)

The 2020 United States presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, was the 59th quadrennial U.S. presidential election. The Republican nominee, President Donald Trump, and his running mate, Vice President Mike Pence were elected to a second term. They defeated the Democratic ticket of former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Senator Kamala Harris of California, despite losing the popular vote for the second time in a row. This would mark the first occurrence in U.S. history in which a president had been elected twice without carrying the nationwide popular vote.

Being the incumbent president, Trump had the largest support among their own party since Ronald Reagan. However, Trump would face approval ratings hovering in the low 40s and was highly seen as vulnerable. Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld had challenged the president in the Republican primary, but largely failed to gain any traction. The Democratic primary was the largest and most diverse presidential field in U.S. history. Joe Biden secured the nomination on June 20, defeating 28 other Democrats, including top rivals Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Biden was nominated at the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, selecting former competitor U.S. Senator from California Kamala Harris as his vice presidential running mate. Harris would become the first Asian American and African American woman to be the vice presidential nominee for a major political party.

The campaigns focused primarily on the economy, domestic issues, healthcare, immigration, and military prospects. President Trump touted low unemployment levels, foreign policy achievements In North Korea, decreased illegal immigration rates nationwide, and a 'strong' economy. Biden's message focused primarily on noting a ''volatile' economy, emphasizing the need for a 'return to normalcy' and healthcare.

Most national polls indicated a competitive race leading up to Election Day. Biden received 2.4 million more votes nationwide, a margin of 1.8%. Trump garnered 312 electoral votes to Biden's 226, just one electoral vote less than Hillary Clinton's total including faithless electors in 2016. Trump had picked up the states of New Hampshire and Maine by narrow margins and solidified support in the Rust Belt while Biden would improve Democratic performance in the Sun Belt. Despite facing a historic consecutive defeat in the nationwide popular vote, Trump became the fourth consecutive president to be re-elected.

Republican Party
Donald Trump is eligible to run for reelection and has clearly signaled his intentions to do so. His reelection campaign has been ongoing since his victory in 2016, leading pundits to describe his tactic of holding rallies continuously throughout his presidency as a "never-ending campaign". On January 20, 2017, at 5:11 p.m., he submitted a letter as a substitute of FEC Form 2, by which he reached the legal threshold for filing, in compliance with the Federal Election Campaign Act.

Beginning in August 2017, reports arose that members of the Republican Party were preparing a "shadow campaign" against Trump, particularly from the moderate or establishment wings of the party. Now late Arizona Senator John McCain said that "[Republicans] see weakness in this president."Maine Senator Susan Collins, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie all expressed doubts in 2017 that Trump will be the 2020 nominee, with Collins stating "it's too difficult to say."Senator Jeff Flake claimed in 2017 that Trump is "inviting" a primary challenger by the way he is governing. Longtime political strategist Roger Stone, however, predicted in May 2018 that Trump may not seek a second term if he succeeds in keeping all of his campaign promises and "makes America great again".

In February 2019, 2016 Libertarian vice presidential nominee William Weld announced his decision to mount a primary campaign against the president. The last election in which a sitting president had a notable challenger was when Lyndon LaRouche challenged President Bill Clinton in 1996.

Declared

 * Donald Trump, President of the United States since 2017
 * Mark Sanford, U.S. Representative from South Carolina 1995-2001, 2013-2019; Governor of South Carolina 2003-2011
 * Joe Walsh, U.S. Representative from Illinois 2011-2013
 * William Weld, Governor of Massachusetts (1991-1997); 2016 Libertarian vice presidential nominee; candidate for Governor of New York in 2006

Democratic Party
After Hillary Clinton's upset loss in the previous election, the Democratic Party was seen largely as leaderless and fractured between the centrist, "New Democrat" Clinton wing and the more progressive Sanders wing of the party, echoing the rift brought up in the 2016 primary election. The party was further splinted by the DNC Chair election in February 2017 between moderate Tom Perez and Sanders-backed progressive Keith Ellison. Perez ended up winning the leadership position with Ellison being appointed to the primarily ceremonial position of Deputy Chair in order to lessen the divide. Meanwhile there has been a general shift to the left in regards to college tuition, healthcare, and immigration among Democrats in the Senate, likely to build up credentials for the upcoming primary election. The presidential field reached a total of twenty-nine candidates, breaking the record for the largest presidential field in United States history.

Joe Biden emerged as the presidential nominee, and would select former competitor Kamala Harris as his vice presidential running mate.

Candidates

Declared

 * Michael Bennet, U.S. Senator from Colorado since 2009
 * Joe Biden, Vice President of the United States 2009-2017; U.S. Senator from Delaware 1973-2009; candidate for President in 1988 and 2008
 * Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City 2002-2013
 * Cory Booker, U.S. Senator from New Jersey since 2013; Mayor of Newark 2006–2013
 * Steve Bullock, Governor of Montana since 2013; Attorney General of Montana 2009-2013
 * Pete Buttigieg, Mayor of South Bend, Indiana since 2012
 * Julian Castro, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 2014–2017; Mayor of San Antonio 2009–2014
 * John Delaney, U.S. Representative from Maryland since 2013
 * Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. Representative from Hawaii since 2013
 * Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Senator from New York since 2009; U.S. Representative 2007–2009
 * Mike Gravel, U.S. Senator from Alaska (1969-1981); candidate for President in 2008
 * Kamala Harris, U.S. Senator from California since 2017; Attorney General of California 2011-2017; District Attorney of San Francisco 2004-2011
 * John Hickenlooper, Governor of Colorado (2011-2019); Mayor of Denver (2003-2011)
 * Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington since 2013; U.S. Representative 1993-1995 and 1999-2012
 * Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Senator from Minnesota since 2007
 * Terry McAuliffe, Governor of Virginia 2014-2018
 * Jeff Merkley, U.S. Senator from Oregon since 2009
 * Seth Moulton, U.S. Representative from Massachusetts since 2015
 * Richard Ojeda, West Virginia State Senator from WV-SD07 2016-2019
 * Beto O'Rourke, U.S. Representative from Texas 2013-2019; Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate election in Texas in 2018
 * Deval Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts 2007-2015
 * Tim Ryan, U.S. Representative from Ohio since 2003
 * Bernie Sanders, U.S. Senator from Vermont since 2007; Democratic candidate for President in 2016
 * Joe Sestak, U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania 2007-2011
 * Tom Steyer, hedge fund manager from California
 * Eric Swalwell, U.S. Representative from California since 2013
 * Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts since 2013
 * Marianne Williamson, author from California
 * Andrew Yang, entrepreneur from New York

Close races
States where the margin of victory was under 1% (32 electoral votes; 22 won by Trump, 10 by Harris) States/districts where the margin of victory was between 1% and 5%  States where the margin of victory was between 5% and 10% 
 * 1) Maine - 0.19% -  2 (won by Donald Trump)
 * 2) New Hampshire – 0.46% - 4 (won by Donald Trump)
 * 3) Minnesota – 0.48% - 10 (won by Joe Biden)
 * 4) Michigan –  0.59% - 16 (won by Donald Trump)
 * 1) Wisconsin – 1.04% - 10 (tipping point state) (won by Donald Trump)
 * 2) Maine’s 1st congressional district – 1.23% - 1 (won by Donald Trump)
 * 3) Pennsylvania – 1.47% - 20 (won by Donald Trump)
 * 4) Florida – 1.53% - 29 (won by Donald Trump)
 * 5) Arizona – 2.03% - 11 (won by Donald Trump)
 * 6) Virginia – 2.20% - 13 (won by Joe Biden)
 * 7) Nevada – 3.11% - 6 (won by Joe Biden)
 * 8) North Carolina – 3.53% - 15 (won by Donald Trump)
 * 9) Nebraska’s 2nd congressional district – 3.78% - 1 (won by Donald Trump)
 * 10) Texas – 4.13% - 36 (won by Donald Trump)
 * 11) Georgia – 4.93% - 16 (won by Donald Trump)
 * 1) Colorado - 5.07% - 9 (won by Joe Biden)
 * 2) Iowa - 6.19% - 6 (won by Donald Trump)
 * 3) Ohio - 7.93% - 18 (won by Donald Trump)
 * 4) New Mexico – 9.79% - 5 (won by Joe Biden)