2024 Presidential Election (King's Democratic)

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 Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg narrowly defeated Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem in the general election. Vice President Harris and Secretary Brown were inaugurated as the 47th President and 50th Vice President of the United States. Upon their inauguration, Harris became the first woman and first Asian President. Her husband Doug Emhoff became the first first gentleman in US history. Pete Buttigieg became the first openly gay Vice President in US History, the highest ranking LGBT figure in history. Also remarkable, the first time in history, both the first and second spouse would be gentleman.

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 - Sherrod Brown, Roy Cooper, Gretchen Whitmer, Pete Buttigieg and Jon Ossoff. In the end, Pete Buttigieg was picked by Kamala Harris. For Kamala it was important that she not only get along with her choice, but that Doug also get along with the potential future second spouse. Doug was considered close friends with Chasten Buttigieg. Pete was young, from the Midwest, great debater and could help Harris appeal with white voters.

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 Buttigieg handled campaigning more so in the Midwest. The Harris/Buttigieg campaign almost made the move to abandon Iowa, but Buttigieg convinced the campaign, he could help make it competitive. Harris campaigned most in the states of Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Texas. Buttigieg focused his campaign efforts on Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin. While they both visited the same states, Harris campaigned mainly in the cities and the suburbs. Buttigieg focused more so on rural areas. The Biden's, Obamas and Clintons hit the trail for the Democratic ticket. Harris and Biden 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 Buttigieg's appeal. Republicans were nervous that with Pete on the ticket, he alone would 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, Pete also beat Krisi during their debate. The expectations for Pete were similar of Harris in 2020, since many knew she was a talented debater. Many likened the debate to the 2008 Vice Presidential debate but with Noem a little better than Palin.

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/Buttigieg 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 Buttigieg luck. As President, Harris invited Ron to the White House for a sit down to talk, and Buttigieg did the same thing for Noem.