United States Presidential Election, 2028 (Dane's Timeline)

The 2028 United States Presidential Election was the 61st Quadrennial Presidential Election, held on November 7th, 2028. The Republican Ticket of Incumbent President Mike Pence and Incumbent Vice President Mario-Diaz Balart defeated the Democratic ticket of Senator London Breed and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Pence became the first Incumbent President since Barack Obama in 2012 to successfully win re-election to a second term as President. However, Pence did so with just 45.8% of the popular vote, the smallest share of the Popular vote for an incumbent President since George HW Bush in 1992, and won the election with the lowest percentage of the popular vote since John Quincy Adams in 1824. Pence became just the second incumbent Republican President of the 21st century, after George W Bush, to win re-election to a second term and was the first to do so since 2004. Pence secured the most votes in the history of the Republican Party, winning a total of 81.8 million votes, narrowly surpassing his total from his election in 2024. Democratic Nominee London Breed secured 88 million votes, the most for any candidate in American history. Her 49.3 percent of the popular vote was the highest percentage by a losing candidate since Samuel J Tilden in 1876, and her 3.5 percent margin of victory in the popular vote was the largest such for a losing candidate, also surpassing Tilden's 1876 campaign. Her 6.3 million popular vote victory was the largest popular vote victory in terms of raw margin since Joe Biden in 2020 and the largest ever for a losing candidate. Tulsi Gabbard, the Libertarian candidate, secured a total of 7.7 million votes, the most votes for a third party candidate since Ross Perot's 1996 campaign. Gabbard's 4.3 percent of the popular vote was also the best ever performance for a Libertarian Party candidate. The election's astonishing 73.4 percent turnout was the highest turnout of any Presidential Election since 1896.

Incumbent President Mike Pence secured the Republican nomination for President without any opposition candidates and was re-nominated unanimously at the GOP convention. London Breed emerged out of a surprisingly competitive Democratic Primary field which included former Vice President Kamala Harris, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Governor Kathy Hoffman of Arizona, Former Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky, and Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. London Breed became the first African-American woman to ever win the Presidential Nomination of a major party and the second female to do so, after Hillary Clinton in 2016. Kirsten Gillibrand became the fourth female to ever appear as a Vice Presidential Nominee for a major party, after Geraldine Ferraro, Sarah Palin, and Kamala Harris. The two combined to make the first all-female major party Presidential ticket in American History. Tulsi Gabbard unexpectedly ran and secured the Libertarian Party nomination, with Donald Rainwater, a former candidate for Governor of Indiana as her Vice Presidential Candidate. Angela Nicole Walker again secured the Green Party nomination, again selecting Dario Hunter as her running mate.

Pence had a largely neutral approval in the early years of his Presidency- despite being well liked by Republicans, Democrats had a disdain for his Presidency especially in the aftermath of Biden's defeat. Pence did not do himself favors early on, causing internal Republican strife by issuing an executive order prohibiting Gay Marriage across the United States. This scared many Democrats and even some Republicans, but the executive order was narrowly overturned in a 5-4 Supreme Court decision, with Justice John Roberts being the deciding vote, restoring gay marriages across the United States. In a publicity stunt, Pence also appeared in a boxing match on Pay-Per-View with President of the Philippines Manny Pacquiao, who knocked out Pence in the first round, an appearance which received staunch criticism from many. Pence also had a foreign policy blunder, supporting a failed coup in Turkmenistan and defending Tajikistan's soverignty, much to the dismay of the Russians, and allowing Iran to test a nuclear bomb in the rural deserts of Eastern Iran in 2026. However, Pence's approval remained rather stabilized due to a strong, rapidly growing economy and the vast amount of legislation passed during his term. Foreign Policy, LGBTQ Rights, and the Supreme Court were the predominant election themes.

Pence won the election by a rather narrow margin, winning by 26 electoral votes and securing 45.8 percent of the popular vote. This popular vote percentage was the smallest such for a winning candidate since John Quincy Adams in 1824. Pence swept traditional Republican strongholds across the Midwest, South, and Great Plains, in addition to winning the crucial swing states of Michigan and Pennsylvania, which secured his re-election victory. However, London Breed fared well across traditional Democratic strongholds in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and along the Pacific Coast, alongside winning the crucial swing states of Georgia and Arizona. Mike Pence became the first Republican to win the Presidential Election without carrying Georgia since Ronald Reagan in 1980 and the first Republican to win Maine in a re-election campaign since Ronald Reagan in 1984. This election was considered heavily controversial, and consisted of weeks long, drawn out legal battles over several thousand votes in Pennsylvania and Michigan, however Pence secured both states and won re-election by virtue of carrying them.