2024 US elections (Seanathan)

Part of Timeline (Seanathan)
The 2024 United States presidential election was the 60th quadrennial presidential election, held nominally on November 5th, 2024. The Democratic ticket of incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris and former mayor of South Bend Pete Buttigieg defeated the Republican ticket of former vice president Mike Pence and former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.

Democratic Primaries
After incumbent president Joseph R. Biden announced he would not seek reelection due to health reasons, the Democratic ticket was up for grabs. The Delawarean was 82 years of age by this point. The Democratic primaries resulted in a battle between former Vice President Kamala Harris; New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and California Governor Gavin Newsom. The Iowa Caucuses were won by Harris, and she also managed to win the nomination. This was largely due to the fact that she had been Vice President of the nation for four years prior. Other, less popular Democratic candidates included Entrepreneur Andrew Yang and Colorado governor Michael Bennet.

After Kamala Harris recieved the nomination, her vice presidential shortlist was thought to be made up of Beto O' Rourke, a representative from Texas, Tammy Baldwin, a Virginia Representative, Andrew Beshear, the governor of Kentucky and Pete Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. She chose Pete Buttigieg.

Republican Primaries
On the Republican side, there was a battle between the Trump supporters and the Reformists. The 2024 Republican primaries were majorly between Florida senator Marco Rubio, Governor of Maryland Larry Hogan, former Vice President Mike Pence, and former secretary of state Mike Pompeo. Donald Trump Jr ran for the ticket as well, but extreme views and support of unpopular conspiracy theories alienated many moderates. Other Candidates included talk show host Sean Hannity and pro-Trump black activist Candace Owens. Although several polls favored Rubio, Mike Pence won the Iowa caucuses and the nomination shortly after.

After Mike Pence recieved the nomination, his vice presidential shortlist was thought to be made up of Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska and Liz Cheney, Wyoming representative. He chose Nikki Haley.

Other Parties
The Libertarian Party won around 1.1% of the Popular Vote. Their presidential ticket consisted of Michigan representative Justin Amash and their vice president ticket was attorney and politician Jacob Hornberger.

The Green Party won around 1.2% of the Popular Vote. Their presidential ticket consisted of former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura and their vice president ticket was openly gay Muslim rabbi Dario Hunter. Their party won a sizable amount of the overall vote, as compared to past years, partly due to the popularity of Jesse Ventura in Minnesota.

Other parties won 0.2% of the popular vote, including the Constitution Party candidate and independent candidate Kanye West

Climate Change
Joe Biden reentered the Paris Climate Treaty, much to the dismay of Trumpist conservatives. Joe Biden also passed several environmental reforms, including his version of a 'Green New Deal' although Progressives urge for a full Green New Deal.

Mike Pence denounces Climate Change as a hoax. However, many conservatives, especially in cities, are beginning to accept climate change.

Healthcare
While Joe Biden strengthened and rebuilt the Affordable Health Care Act, called Bidencare, Progressives within the Democratic party are pressing for Universal and Public Healthcare through the Medicare For All Act.

Mike Pence advocates for the repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act, although he has not made it clear what it will be replaced with.

Economy
The Economic crash of the early 2020s has been a serious issue. Although the economy has bounced back and the unemployment rate is beginning to drop down to normal levels, the economy is still in a fragile state.

The 2022 economic dip allowed the Republicans to retake the House of Representatives, but the minor disaster was fixed by president Biden.

Iraq and Foreign Policy
The United States has taken a diplomatic foreign policy following the inauguration of Joe Biden. Following the end of the tensions in Iraq and the partition of Iraq, troops in the middle east have been pulled out. The nation has had to compromise with its allies.

Bosnia-Herzegovinia, a majority Muslim nation's, ascension to NATO in 2022 has been a massive source of discontempt from American conservatives.

Republicans like Mike Pence denounce this globalist approach, saying that America must put her own interests first.

Other Neoconservatives say that we should have conquered all of Iraq, rather than settling for partition between an Iran-dominated east and a Sunni US-dominated West.

Racial Unrest
Part of the Riots of the 2020s, there is a lot of civil unrest. Affirmative Action was passed during the Biden administration, but some argue it is not enough.

Debates
Mike Pence's poor performance in the debates likely was one of the factors that lost the election for him.

Pete Buttigieg appeared as a charismatic and open character during the vice presidential debates, and gained a lot of support from younger voters.

Election Night
Kamala Harris picked up the important swing states of Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, and Pennsylvania.

She also won North Carolina and even Georgia due to higher African-American turnout.

Her VP choice of Pete Buttigieg brought Indiana from a safe red state to a likely red state due to higher turnout in Northern Indianan cities such as South Bend, where he was mayor.

Meanwhile Pence won in the swing states of Wisconsin, Ohio, and Florida.

The results came in the following morning, with 308 electoral votes for Harris and 230 for Pence.

Kamala Harris was inaugarated as the first female, biracial, and Asian president as well as the second Black president.

Pete Buttigieg, her vice president, became the first LGBTQ+ vice president.