2024 U.S presidential election (Porvenir)

The United States presidential election of 2024 was the 60th quadrennial United States presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Incumbent President and Democrat Joe Biden of Delaware was eligible to seek a second term in office, but chose not to do so citing advanced age. Democratic nominee and incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris of California defeated Republican Party candidate and former U.N Ambassador from South Carolina Nikki Haley, and Green Party candidate and former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura.

Vice President Harris ran on the improving economy and the New York Accords which were being written at the U.N Building. Harris was the first female President, along with being the first Asian-American and second African-American president, while her running mate Ruben Gallego became the first Hispanic Vice President.

Background
The Biden administration had proven to be among one of the more popular in contemporary U.S history. America enjoyed a swift economic recovery after facing the brunt of the global financial crisis of 2019-2021, as Biden's economic and infrastructure plan found itself to be a potent remedy to an unprecedented catastrophe. The government's new policy on climate change, which miraculously managed to appease both climate activists in the Democratic Party and many business leaders as well, was welcomed as a drastic improvement over the radically contrarian position of the Trump White House. In regards to foreign policy, though Biden was challenged by ideological libertarians from across the political spectrum for his interventionist tendencies in the Middle East and Latin America, the President was credited for ending U.S involvement in Saudi Arabia's internationally unpopular genocide in Yemen, as well as working with the newly elected, moderate government in Israel to craft a two-state solution with Palestine. In 2023, the Supreme Court was expanded from six seats to nine, giving the Court a "liberal" majority for the first time since 1971, and allowing Democrats to largely circumvent the GOP majority in the House. Overall, the "return to normalcy" promised in 2020 was found to be largely satisfactory to the average voter, positively positioning the Democrats for 2024 and beyond.

Having been metaphorically decapitated in 2020 with the loss of their leader, the Republican Party now faced a civil split far greater and more violent than any division in the Democratic Party. Despite regaining the House in 2022, the former party of Lincoln strained to see a bright future as the alt-right decisively hijacked the leadership apparatus from mainstream neoconservatives. Most remaining figures in the Republican establishment were forced to either embrace reactionaryism in various forms or be defeated in primaries. Though the war of dogma had been clearly and incontrovertibly won by Trumpists, the donor class continued to resist this new wave of zealotry, albeit unsuccessfully. The Republicans stumbled into 2024, in the precarious position of facing not only their far more favored rivals in the DNC, but also the reality that their next nominee would first need approval of illiberal puritans.

Democratic candidates

 * Kamala Harris (60), U.S Vice President from California (Nominee)
 * Marianne Williamson (72), author from California
 * Mark Kelly (60), U.S Senator from Arizona
 * Elizabeth Warren (75), U.S Senator from Massachusetts
 * Roy Cooper (67), Governor of North Carolina
 * Steve Bullock (58), former Governor of Montana

When President Biden declined to seek reelection in December 2022, Vice President Harris soared as the odds-on favorite for the Democratic nomination and the Presidency. As a Harris victory would likely clear the Democratic primary for at least another eight years however, some Democrats sought to deny the Vice President her crown. With progressive leaders such as Bernie Sanders, Nina Turner, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez all quickly removing themselves from contention, progressive absolutists desired a candidate to the left of Harris. Massachusetts Senator and former left-wing darling Elizabeth Warren again ran, but was firmly rejected by progressives for her perceived betrayal of Sanders in 2020. Moderate Arizona Senator Mark Kelly surprised many with his universally unexpected campaign, and failed to garner any sort of love from the left. Given no other viable option, the "#BernieOrBust" minority lined up behind author and spiritual leader Marianne Williamson. Williamson was disparaged as a trifling and trivial candidate by the corporate media, becoming the source of many a late-night punchline. With the iconoclastic left behind her however, Williamson remained competitive in polling and consistently floated in the top three of the modest field.

With Williamson and Kelly lagging behind as her strongest adversaries, Harris swept every delegate aside from a single defector in Oregon. Speculation for Harris' running mate revolved mostly around elected officials, and stateswomen. Pundits particularly pointed to Texas Governor Joaquin Castro, Georgia Governor Stacey Abrams, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and Ocasio-Cortez. Harris' eventual announcement of Hispanic Arizona Congressman and Marine Corps veteran Ruben Gallego was seen as unanticipated, but not surprising. Harris/Gallego became the first ticket in presidential history to nominate a Hispanic and two people of color at the Democratic National Convention in Houston, Texas.

Republican candidates

 * Nikki Haley (52), former UN Ambassador from South Carolina (Nominee)
 * Ted Cruz (53), U.S Senator from Texas
 * Mike Pence (65), former U.S Vice President from Indiana
 * Larry Hogan (68), former Governor of Maryland
 * JEB Bush (71), former Governor of Florida
 * Tom Cotton (47), U.S Senator from Arkansas
 * Josh Hawley (44), U.S Senator from Missouri
 * Marjorie Taylor Greene (51), former U.S Representative from Georgia
 * Allen West (63), far-right activist and former U.S Representative from Texas
 * Scott Walker (57), former Governor of Wisconsin
 * James Lankford (56), U.S Senator from Oklahoma
 * Mitt Romney (77), U.S Senator from Utah
 * Jeff Flake (62), former U.S Senator from Arizona
 * Chris Christie (62), former Governor of New Jersey
 * Bobby Jindal (57), former Governor of Louisiana
 * Bruce Rauner (68), former Governor of Illinois

In the years following the 2020 election and prior to the 2024 cycle, the Republican Party reached a vertex of uncertainty. Donald J. Trump remained historically despised nationwide and across most voter demographics, yet still very much controlled the Republican Party. In the 2022 midterms, candidates endorsed by the former President dominated their primaries 90% of the time. Aside from his paramount role as conservative kingmaker, Trump spent his time back at Mar-A-Lago also oscillating with the prospect of a second reelection campaign. Most polls indicated that were Trump to run, he would indubitably secure the nomination. By the same token, a field without Trump allowed room only for a MAGA movement loyalist to be bequeathed the party helm. While the rest of the country celebrated the post-Trump era, the Republicans wrung their hands at the facts of their new reality. Bogged down by various legal battles and lingering American disapproval, Trump finally closed the door on the race in early 2023, months following Biden's own declination. What followed was nothing short of an avalanche of both speculation, and announcements of candidacy from across Republican battle-lines. Whatever bittersweet relief had washed over Trump-skeptics in the party leadership was not to last.

As expected, the large Republican field immediately devolved into a vicious contest for the endorsement of Trump. Nevertheless, MAGA support alone was simply not viable, with the fight for big-money donors of previous primary seasons also returning in full force. Out of the proverbial menagerie of candidates, former U.N Ambassador Nikki Haley of South Carolina, U.S Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, and former U.S Vice President Mike Pence of Indiana most successfully discovered a sweet-spot of grassroots acceptance and corporate backing. All three had clearly focused their efforts on alliance with Trump and his entourage, though were still seen as reassuring to the minds of the status quo. Party moderates meanwhile lamented their dire circumstances. Centrists such as former Ohio Governor John Kasich, and Virginia businesswoman Carly Fiorina, favorites from days gone by, were now met with disdain from the party electorate after their eleventh hour endorsements of Biden over Trump. Thus, both were considered decided non-factors early in contention, and neither elected to run. Utah Senator Mitt Romney, a previous two-time candidate and one-time nominee thrice more threw his hat into the ring, but was dead on arrival after having voted to convict Trump during both impeachment trials, eventually failing to qualify for the November 2023 primetime debate, and quietly fading from the race as a result. Former Florida Governor JEB Bush enjoyed a more fruitful result than that of his previous campaign, but still struggled to escape the shadow of his brother George W. Bush. Establishing himself as tough-talking outsider with no major reason for detraction from conservatives, former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan was by far the largest presence of his moderate peers, and poured his efforts into the New Hampshire primary. After a third place finish in the Live Free or Die State behind Haley and Pence, Hogan dropped out, dashing the final hopes of his party wing.

With Hogan and the other moderates out of the way, the trio of frontrunners now turned on each other, hoping to attract Trump's belated endorsement. All three were venomous and malicious to one another; Pence lambasted Haley for her tepid condemnation of Trump's role in the 2021 storming of the U.S Capitol, posturing as if his former colleague were a faux conservative. Cruz was ridiculed for a joke mocking Haley's birthname of Nimrata, not only raising accusations of racism, but also scorn over the hypocrisy of Cruz too having adopted his middle name over his given name of Rafael. Haley carried Nevada, and managed to eek out a close victory in her homestate of South Carolina as Pence and Cruz divided the Evangelical vote. Having failed to win a single contest, Pence dropped out, leaving Haley and Cruz to battle over Super Tuesday. At the race's climax in March 2024, Trump endorsed Haley over his 2016 rival - now believed to be indicative of lingering bitterness between the two. History repeated itself as Cruz came up short once more, and Haley secured the nomination by April. In an effort to prove her conservative bona fides, Haley chose California Congressman and outspoken Trump-devotee Devin Nunes as her running mate. After a floor fight in which conspiracy theorist and former Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene led protestors in disrupting Haley's acceptance speech, the GOP ticket was nominated at the Republican National Convention in Jacksonville, Florida.

Green Party candidates

 * Jesse Ventura (73), former Governor of Minnesota
 * Howie Hawkins (71), trade unionist and party co-founder from New York
 * Jimmy Dore (59), comedian from California

After his dubious nomination in 2020, party co-founder Howie Hawkins again ran with the Greens, despite the wishes of party activists. Much to Hawkins' chagrin however, he was accompanied in the primary by former Reform Party Minnesota Governor and retired pro-wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura". Despite Hawkins' influence with the Greens, he was unable to match Ventura's sheer name recognition and likability who swept every contest.

In an attempt to diversify his ticket against the multiracial nominees of the major parties, Ventura gave the VP nod to former Georgia Congresswoman and 2008 nominee Cynthia McKinney. The year's Green National Convention in Greenville, South Carolina broke party records for both in-person attendance and online viewership.

General Election Campaign
Haley's general election strategy largely saw her run to Harris' center on economics, and to the Vice President's right on social issues. She blasted Harris for her supposed demagoguery, describing her rival's policy proposals of healthcare expansion and student debt relief as "pie in the sky". Throwing red-meat to the base she struggled to maintain, Haley also took hardline positions on immigration that parroted those of the party's most ardent nativists. Haley's unapologetic hawkishness and neoconservatism were also put on full display, as she promised to restart animosities with Russia and Iran while fueling ongoing American-Chinese tensions. Haley's campaign was comparable to that of Mitt Romney's in 2012, as both nominees had presented themselves as bleeding-heart conservatives, yet mostly failed to capture the heart of the right who saw them as pandering bureaucrats. With Haley painting herself into an ideological corner with her newfound radicalism, Harris championed the most progressive policies of a major nominee since FDR. Though she lauded her work with President Biden in many different facets, she made clear her intentions to be a different brand of Democratic President. To this end, she worked with leftist heroes including Ocasio-Cortez and Nina Turner to draft economic policies that would serve to not only keep progressives in her corner, but also to appeal to working-class Republicans. Harris pledged to expand healthcare within her first term, and pave the way for a Medicare For All-esque system over time. While taking a firm stance against foreign interference in the electoral process, she expressed a hope to work with even American adversaries such as Russia. With Hispanic and Latino populations in the U.S at an all-time high, Harris drew a line between Haley and the policies of the Trump regime, now widely seen as bigoted. In the final months of the campaign, Harris and Gallego barnstormed across Texas, Florida, the Southwestern States, and any part of the country with a sizable Hispanic demographic.

Results
Most polling, though accurate in its prediction of a Harris victory, drastically underestimated her performance, as the Vice President became the first Democrat to carry Texas since Jimmy Carter in 1976. Harris also won back Florida and North Carolina, two swing-states that had in recent years narrowly leaned Republican in the electoral college.

In Harris' victory speech, she was moved to tears over the election of the first female President, stating that she knew her mother Shyamala Gopalan was smiling down at her from heaven with pride. At the end of her speech, she channeled Chicano rights leader César Chávez and former President Obama with a declaration of "yes, we can".