2028 United States Presidential Election (Haley, Harris)

The 2028 United States presidential election took place on Tuesday, November 2, 2028. It was the 61st quadrennial presidential election. Voters selected presidential electors who voted on December 14, 2028,[2] to select a new president and vice president. The election occured simultaneously alongside elections for the House of Representatives, Senate, and various state and local-level elections.

Vice President Kamala Harris had assumed the presidency following the death of President Joe Biden on July 27th, 2027. She thus became the first female and the first South-Asian American President in history.

The 2028 Presidential Election was the first presidential election where the nominees of both major political parties were women. The Democratic ticket of incumbent President Kamala Harris and incumbent Vice President Jon Ossoff defeated the Republican ticket of former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and Missouri Senator Josh Hawley. Harris received 361 electoral votes and 51.1% of the popular vote, while Haley received 177 electoral votes and 46.0% of the popular vote.

Background
Joe Biden’s second term in office saw great levels of economic growth and social stability. By July 2027, GDP was growing at a rapid rate of 4.3% and the unemployment rate had dropped to 3.9%. The Biden Administration was criticized however for its weak foreign policy against China and its failed intervention in the Great Caucus War. Unfortunately, President Biden passed away on July 27th, 2027 following a month of struggling with age-related diseases. Biden was 84 at the time of his death.

Vice President Kamala Harris was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on July 28th. She became the first female President of the United States and selected Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff as her Vice President. Under Harris’ leadership, the economy continued to grow and the world remained relatively-peaceful, although tensions had started between India and China.

Democratic Nomination
Incumbent President Kamala Harris was extremely popular having a 88% approval rating within the Democratic Party and a 54% approval rating overall. She was easily renominated by the Democratic Party without any serious opposition. Harris considered switching her running mate for the upcoming election to a more Progressive figure such as U.S Senator Alexandria Ocasio Cortez from New York, because Ossoff wasn’t very charismatic and often viewed as incompetent. Additionally, Harris wanted to appease the Progressive Wing of the party. However, ultimately decided against and Vice President Ossoff was chosen as her running mate.

Republican Nomination
Following their defeat in 2024, the Republican Party was torn between its moderate conservative and Populist wings. After his defeat in the previous election cycle, 81-year-old former President Donald Trump refused to seek the Republican nomination. This left the Republican field for the Presidential Nomination wide open.

The Republican Presidential Primaries fielded the largest amount of candidates in U.S History up to that point. Prominent contenders for the Republican nomination included former Vice President Mike Pence from the Populist Wing of the party, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley from the Populist Wing, former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan from the party’s moderate wing, Talk Show Host Tucker Carlson from the party’s Populist Wing, Texas Senator Ted Cruz who was trying to serve as the unifying link between the two wings of the party, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton from the party’s moderate wing, and former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley who had a similar strategy to Cruz.

At the start of the primary season, Mike Pence was often viewed as the leading candidate for the Republican nomination followed by Haley, Cruz, and Hawley. However, Pence damaged his candidacy with the party’s moderate wing for not being viewed as charismatic enough and not appealing to the growing diverse population in the country. By early March, Mike Pence, Nikki Haley, and Ted Cruz were virtually even in the polls trading spots for first place. In Iowa, Pence finished in 3rd place behind Ted Cruz and Nikki Haley. In New Hampshire, Pence finished in 5th place following Haley, Cruz, Hawley, and Carlson. Following the New Hampshire primaries, Larry Hogan and Tom Cotton dropped out from the primaries thus only strengthening the support of the moderate Republicans. Both Hogan and Cotton endorsed Nikki Haley for the nomination.

After failing to convince Hawley and Carlson to drop out in favor of his candidacy, Pence finished in 4th place in Nevada following Cruz, Haley, and Hawley. Following his results in Nevada, Carlson dropped out. However, Carlson chose to endorse Hawley, not Pence, as the future leader of the Populist Republicans. In her home state of South Carolina, Nikki Haley dominated the field winning all of the state’s delegates. On the day of Super Tuesday, Nikki Haley was leading in delegates followed by Cruz, Hawley, and Pence. Haley’s strategy for Super Tuesday was to present herself as the most “electable” choice, Cruz continued with his original strategy of uniting the two wings of the party, while Hawley and Pence tried to bring up voter turnout among the Trumpist Republicans.

Nikki Haley and Ted Cruz dominated Super Tuesday, and by the end of the day had a relatively-equal number of delegates, with Haley slightly in the lead. Josh Hawley finished in solid third dominating the Populist vote. Pence dropped out following his weak Super Tuesday showing and endorsed Nikki Haley. Following a phone call conversation with the Haley campaign, Hawley also dropped out of the race and endorsed Nikki Haley. Former President Donald Trump had also given a speech following the Super Tuesday results, endorsing Nikki Haley.

In the following primaries, with her numerous endorsements, Haley steadily expanded her lead over Cruz and by late June had secured the Republican nomination. She became the first Republican female nominee for President. Haley chose Hawley as her running mate in order to appease the populist wing of the Republican Party.

Campaign
Emphasizing the strong economy, Harris maintained a strong lead over Nikki Haley for the duration of the campaign ranging from 5%-7% nationwide, as well as campaigned on her and Biden’s record of ending the Covid-19 pandemic, restoring the economy, and promoting civil rights for African-Americans.

Haley attempted to campaign almost entirely on foreign policy, emphasizing the need for protectionist tariffs, a tougher stance against China in the China-India tensions, the failed intervention of the Biden-Harris administration in the Great Caucus War, and the need to exit multiple international agreements such as the Paris Climate Accord. However, Haley and Hawley failed to bring up such huge turnout in Republican rallies as Trump had done four years earlier.

On election day, Harris was polling at 52% to Haley’s 46% and everyone was certain of Harris’s upcoming win.

Results
Kamala Harris won the election with 361 electoral votes and 51.1% of the popular vote. Haley came in second place with 177 electoral votes and 46.0% of the popular vote, slightly improving on Trump’s popular vote performance albeit performing worse in the electoral collage.

Kamala Harris flipped the states of Texas and Alaska which had voted for Trump in 2024, but had lost the state of Florida to Nikki Haley by a mere 7,000 votes. Harris became the first woman person in American history to be elected President, and also the first South-Asian American to be elected President. This was the first time that Texas voted Democratic since 1976 and the first time Alaska voted Democratic since 1964. This was also the first time that a Democratic candidate had won the Presidential election three times in a row since 1948.