Election of 2020 (Durant Scenario)

Presidential Election
The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of sitting President Hillary Clinton and the Vice President Tim Kaine lost to the Republican nominee Donald Trump and Congressman Michael Andrews. The election took place against the backdrop of the global COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 recession. It was the first election since 1992, the first in the 21st century, and the fifth in the past 100 years, in which the incumbent president failed to win a second term. The election saw the highest voter turnout by percentage since 1900, with each of the two main tickets receiving more than 81 million votes, surpassing Barack Obama's record of 69.5 million votes from 2008. Hillary received more than 81 million votes, the most votes ever cast for a candidate in a U.S. presidential election at that time.

In a competitive primary that featured the most candidates for any political party in the modern era of American politics, Trump secured the Republican nomination for the second time over his closest rival, Senator John McCain. Trump's running mate, Congressman Michael Andrews from Tennessee, became the first vice president to seek the same office for a second time in a row after previously losing the vice presidency. Evan McMullin secured the Libertarian nomination with Gary Johnson as his running mate, and the Green nomination went to Clinton with a different running mate, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The central issues of the election included the public health and economic impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; civil unrest in reaction to the police murder of George Floyd and others; the U.S. Supreme Court following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg; and the future of the Affordable Care Act.

Clinton made an unexpectedly poor showing, mostly due to the McMullin-Johnson ticket as it drew many votes away from her. Receiving over 81 million, votes, Clinton clinched 44.66% of the popular vote but failed to win the election. The Trump-Andrews ticket took 44.64% of the popular vote, but ultimately won 270 electoral votes to Clinton's 248. It is considered one of the greatest political upsets in American history and marks the fifth time overall that a president has been elected without the popular vote. The McMullin-Johnson ticket took 10.7% of the popular vote, taking 20 electoral votes in Montana, Utah, and Arizona; New Mexico nearly flipped in favor of the Libertarian ticket.

House and Senate Results
Democrats took a beating in the House and Senate, resulting in a 55-45 Republican Senate majority and a 234-201 Republican House majority. Paul Ryan did not seek a leadership position and was replaced by Dan Crenshaw of Texas. Rep. Mattox continued to serve as House minority leader.

Gubernatorial Elections
11 states had governorships up for election. Only two, Missouri and Montana, flipped; these became Republican trifecta states.