2024 US Presidential Election (Expecto Patronum's World)

2020_______________________________________________________________________________2028

Background
The presidency of Eric Garcetti had been troubled and unpopular. He had mishandled the mess that his predecessor, Donald Trump, had left for him in Denmark. He had also completely ruined the federal budget. It was not surprising to most that he received a primary challenge from Maine Senator Angus King.

Democratic Party
President of the United States, Eric Garcetti

Maine Senator Angus King

However unpopular Garcetti was nationally, he still had a solid base of support from his party. King's primary challenge resulted in wins in Maine, New Hampshire, Florida, Minnesota, and Oregon. King dropped out after Super Tuesday, so his Oregon win was most likely from protest votes. Garcetti won the nomination.

Republican Party
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham

Former Vice President Dick Cheney

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell

The only resistance Lindsey Graham received in the primaries came from two former members of the second Bush administration. The public saw Powell as too moderate and Cheney as too old. Both dropped out after bad losses in the New Hampshire Primaries. Graham received all but one delegate at the convention, which went to Powell from Iowa.

Libertarian Party
Adam Kokesh

Adam Kokesh ran for the nomination of the Libertarian party and was uncontested in doing so. The party reportedly asked both Gary Johnson and Sam Seder to run, but both declined. He asked 2016 Independent candidate and tech entrepreneur John McAfee to be his running mate.

Green Party
2012 and 2016 Presidential Nominee Jill Stein

Former Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura

Green Party Co-Founder Howie Hawkins

Jesse Ventura entered the race a strong favorite to win, but couldn't fundraise properly while in the Green primary and was forced to drop out. Hawkins had little support among primary or general election voters, and didn't win a state. Jill Stein was the unanimous choice at the convention, and she choose runner-up in votes Jesse Ventura to be her running mate.

Democratic Socialist Party
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders

The Democratic Socialist Party was founded in 2022 as a mechanism to run a Bernie Sanders presidential campaign to the presidency while bypassing the Democratic Primaries. However, it morphed into a major party over the course of the midterms and elected masses of Democratic Socialists to office across the nation. Prominent Democrats such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez switched their partisan affiliation to Democratic Socialist, providing momentum for the Sanders campaign. Sanders announced former Alaskan Senator Mike Gravel as his running mate at the convention.

Independent
Evan McMullin

Evan McMullin yet again targeted an Independent campaign of his at Utah in order to take it away from an objectionable candidate. This time, it was because McMullin found issue with the Democrat that was on track to win it: Eric Garcetti.

Angus King

Angus King announced his Independent bid for the presidency after falling short in the primary against Eric Garcetti. He swore in front of a crowd of supporters not to let Garcetti win the election, and to take states away from him.

Territory Status of Freely Associated States
The Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau all submitted applications for territory status from the United States. The Greens and Independent candidate Angus King both supported that. The Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, and Independent candidate Evan McMullin were against that. The Democratic Socialists supported immediate statehood for these potential territories.

The National Debt
The National Debt was the other big issue in this election. Voters were worried by reports that the nation was nearing a default and a financial collapse that could ruin the country permanently. The Republicans and Libertarians recommended leaving the market alone to work the debt out, the Democrats and the Greens proposed a series cash stimulus injections into the economy, the Democratic Socialists believed that "job insurance" should be placed on working-class Americans' jobs, and the Independent candidates did not speak on this issue, effectively ending the Independent candidates' campaigns.

Results
With the huge amount of candidates in the general election, the electoral vote was split. This election's threshold of victory was 285 electoral votes because of the new statehood of the five territories Guam, Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and U.S. Virgin Islands each having three electoral votes. Garcetti won 20 states+DC for 282 electoral votes. Hawaii was worth no electors after the Supreme Court stripped the state of it's electors for the the election cycle for electoral conspiracy. Graham won 16 states with 137 electoral votes, King won 3 states for 37 electoral votes (he won every electoral vote in Maine), Sanders won six states for 44 electoral votes, Stein won three states for 29 electoral votes, Kokesh won four states for 23 electoral votes, and McMullin won one state for six electoral votes. The election went to the House of Representatives to decide. The House of Representatives was split, with no one party having a majority.

House of Representatives Selection
The House of Representatives was unlikely to choose Lindsey Graham based upon to liberal leanings of the Independents in the chamber and the swell of Democratic-Socialists elected in the midterms. Therefore, it was a wild guess as to who would win over the remaining two candidates. After six-weeks of lobbying, the House voted.

Sanders: 230

Graham: 143

Garcetti: 72

Bernie Sanders was elected the next President of the United States, and Mike Gravel was elected the next Vice President of the United States.