Election of 2080 (Durant Scenario)

The election of 2080 was held on November 5 between the Democratic and Republican parties. Democratic Senator from Texas Alistair Durant handily defeated Republican nominee Senator Hunter Bradley of Texas, both of whom were long-standing political rivals known for their extreme dislike of one another. Durant won the Democratic Presidential Primary of 2080 (Durant Scenario) in a landslide and selected former Governor Melissa Harrison as his running mate. Bradley faced an extremely competitive primary and chose Congressman Alexandra Hayes of New Jersey as his running mate. This was the first presidential election to have two men leading the ticket since 2028. This was the third election to use the electoral map established by the 2080 census; however, given that there were no changes to the electoral map following the 2080 census, it was still in use for the next two elections.

Nominations
The Democratic Presidential Primary of 2080 (Durant Scenario) took place in the first half of 2080. Alistair Durant took a surprise victory in the first-in-the-nation state of Nevada before narrowly winning New York. Durant fared poorly in Virginia, but took North Carolina in a landslide. The four Super Tuesdays resulted in massive Durant wins, with his final opponent, Governor Martin Delacroix of Louisiana, dropping several weeks before the Democratic National Convention. Per his campaign promise, Durant selected former Governor Melissa Harrison of New York as his running mate.

The Republican Presidential Primary of 2080 (Durant Scenario) took place alongside the Democratic Primary. Three major candidates attempted to obtain the nomination: Governor Nina Horrisun of Virginia, Senator Hunter Bradley of Texas, and Governor Tara Hinson of Tennessee. In an extremely competitive primary, Bradley took a plurality of 1,080 votes to Horrisun's 1073 and Hinson's 409. However, Horrisun had won the popular vote in the primaries and was widely considered the stronger candidate by moderates and independents. However, Bradley made several backroom deals and policy promises to various party leaders and obtained the nomination, including promises to gut the MEAD Act, Social Security, and Medicare For All Who Want It. When this became public, it was considered the end of his campaign chances.

General Election Campaigns
Durant largely campaigned on his record, pointing to his history as a "pragmatic progressive" instead of an "incrementalist moderate." He also emphasized his part in creating the MEAD Act, the PROFIT Act, and the LIFE Act, all of which were staples of modern American society.

Polling
May 2080: Durant 51%, Bradley 45%, Undecided/Other 6%

June 2080: Durant 50%, Bradley 48%, Undecided/Other 2%

July 2080: Durant 49%, Bradley 48%, Undecided/Other 3%

August 2080 (Pre Leaks): Durant 46%, Bradley 47%, Undecided/Other 7%

August 2080 (Post Leaks): Durant 56%, Bradley 41%, Undecided/Other 3%

June 2080 (Pre First Debate): Durant 55%, Bradley 40%, Undecided/Other 5%

June 2080 (Post First Debate): Durant 57%, Bradley 39%, Undecided/Other 2%

July 2080 (Pre Second Debate): Durant 56%, Bradley 40%, Undecided/Other 4%

July 2080 (Post Second Debate): Durant 60%, Bradley 32%, Undecided/Other 8%

August 2080 (Pre Third Debate): Durant 59%, Bradley 35%, Undecided/Other 6%

August 2080 (Post Third Debate): Durant 63%, Bradley 29%, Undecided/Other 8%

September 2080 (Pre Fourth Debate): Durant 63%, Bradley 34%, Undecided/Other 3%

September 2080 (Post Fourth Debate): Durant 60%, Bradley 35%, Undecided/Other 5%

October 2080 (Pre Fifth Debate): Durant 59%, Bradley 36%, Undecided/Other 5%

October 2080 (Post Fifth Debate): Durant 65%, Bradley 30%, Undecided/Other 5%

Election Day: Durant 61%, Bradley 38%, Undecided/Other 1%

Key Issues
The MEAD Act, the LIFE Act, and the Green New Deal: These three pieces of major legislation were extremely popular among most Americans, though some ultra-conservatives wanted them scaled back or repealed altogether. Others, such as Durant, wanted to expand them and the people they covered.

National Unity: For decades, the number of people that believed that the nation was beyond returning to stable unity and bipartisanship had remained at record highs (usually from 63% to 84%). However, this became a non-issue after the Republican leaks, and it was further proven a non-issue for the next several administrations, with the highest number still believing this being 41% following a scandal involving several Senators and money laundering.

Combating Sykesism: Syskesism, a specific brand of populism, rose to popularity when Madison Sykes won the Democratic nomination and was elected president. Sykesism remained a driving force in several states, particularly Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, and Minnesota. Most Americans stood against Sykesism, largely due to the demagogue-like tactics Sykes used as the 46th and 48th president, Republican Donald Trump, had used. One key difference, though, is that Democrats like Durant had actively fought against Sykesism, leading to its downfall. However, many of her followers remained, making them a small but vocal minority faction.

Predictions
Early on in the campaign, the race was considered a toss up. However, once the leaks were shared, Durant became a shoe-in for the presidency, taking a massive lead in polls across the country.

Results
More than 200 million votes were cast in this election, defeating the record set in Election of 2020 (Durant Scenario) by Democrat Hillary Clinton, Republican Donald Trump, and Libertarian Evan McMullin. Durant took 61.3% of the vote, outdoing Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Richard M. Nixon, which were just under 61% each. Bradley took 37.9% of the popular vote, with .6% of the vote going to Republican Governor Tara Hinson of Tennessee. The remaining .2% went to various candidates. For this page's purposes, safe states are 15 points or more, likely states are 7 to 15 points, lean states are 1 to 7 points, and tilt states are less than 1 point.

Durant won 243 electoral votes in safe states: California (51), Oregon (6), Washington (11), Nevada (6), Arizona (11), New Mexico (7), Colorado (14), Hawaii (3), Illinois (13), Georgia (18), Puerto Rico (10), Virginia (16), the Douglas Commonwealth (7), Maryland (8), Delaware (3), New Jersey (9), Connecticut (5), Rhode Island (3), Massachusetts (9), Vermont (3), New Hampshire (4), and New York (26). This moved New Jersey and New Hampshire into the Democratic column for the first time since 2036, and into the safe Democratic column for the first time since 2028; this major shift is attributed to Durant's appeal to middle-aged and older voters that had been Trump or Andrews supporters in the 2020s, as well as other extreme Republican supporters from the 2030s, in addition to the GOP's recent scandals.

Durant took 75 electoral votes in four likely states: Louisiana (10), North Carolina (19), Florida (33), and South Carolina (13). Durant took 137 electoral votes in lean states: Alaska (3), Montana (7), Utah (4), Kansas (5), Missouri (12), Mississippi (11), Texas (51), Alabama (10), Michigan (11), Pennsylvania (13), and Maine (3). This is the first time that Utah had voted Democratic since 1964; the first time Pennsylvania had voted Democratic since 2032; the first time Michigan had voted Democratic since 2040; and the first time Alabama had voted Democratic since 1976.

Durant also took 52 electoral votes in seven tilt states: Wisconsin (6), Iowa (3), Tennessee (13), Kentucky (8), Nebraska (4), Indiana (5), and Ohio (13). This is the first time that Ohio or Iowa had voted Democratic since 2012, Wisconsin had voted Democratic since 2028, Kentucky had voted Democratic since 2048, and the first time Indiana had voted Democratic since 2008. This was the first time that all of Nebraska had voted for one political party since 2020, when President Donald Trump took all of the votes in the state (5 at that time).

This placed the Durant-Harrison ticket with 507 electoral votes.

The Bradley-Hayes ticket took 31 electoral votes. took Bradley had one safe state, Idaho (3). Wyoming (3), South Dakota (3), and West Virginia (3) were all likely states. Oklahoma (8) was a lean state, while North Dakota (3) and Arkansas (7) were tilt states. This was the worst showing for a political candidate since Walter Mondale in 1984, the worst showing for a Republican since Alf Landon in 1936, and the poorest popular vote showing of any major party candidate since George McGovern (Democrat) in 1972.