2040 US elections (Seanathan)

Part of the Timeline (Seanathan)
The 2036 United States presidential election was the 63rd quadrennial presidential election, held nominally in November 2036. The Democratic ticket of incumbent president Julian Castro and vice president Tulsi Gabbard defeated the Republican ticket of former Arkansas governor Tom Cotton and Florida senator Byron Donalds.

Democratic Primaries
Julian Castro faced no opposition in the primaries.

Republican Primaries
On the Republican side, there was a battle between former Arkansas governor Tom Cotton, Illinois activist Charlie Kirk, and Michigan governor and entrepreneur Peter Meijer. Other Candidates included nationalist James Allsup. After he narrowly won the Iowa caucuses, Tom Cotton pulled ahead in the end.

Cotton's vice presidential shortlist included New York governor Elise Stefanik and Florida representative Byron Donalds and he ended up choosing the latter.

Other Parties
The Libertarian Party won around 0.6% of the Popular Vote. Their presidential ticket consisted of activist Adam Kokesh and their vice president ticket was collumnist Kristin Tate.

The Green Party won around 0.2% of the Popular Vote. Their presidential ticket consisted of activist Rami Nashashibi and their vice president ticket was Elijah Manley.

Other parties won 0.1% of the popular vote, including the Constitution party and the party for Socialism and Liberation.

Climate Change
Climate change is still a key issue.

Democrats argue America has fallen behind on its duty to preserve earth, while some Republicans neglect the idea of global warming in the first place.

Most Republicans have accepted climate change as more than a left-wing hoax, but that doesn't mean they support mass legislation that may harm the economy or fossil fuel industry.

Tom Cotton has reluctantly accepted climate change as more than myth, but it doesn't mean he appreciates combating it with policies that may impact the economy negatively.

Militarization of Space
America, the EU, and China have both begun to set up bases on the moon and Mars.

A second space race may ensue, between the USA and China. Russia, the EU and India could also be major players.

But does military have a place in the tranquility of space, and should our bases on planets yonder be armed?

The space force has never seen this much non-satirical coverage before, because now more than ever, the state of America could depend on them.

Automation and Privacy
Security cameras, government databases, and libertarians believe that their privacy is at risk than ever before.

Robots are becoming good enough to replace and outperform most humans in manufacturing jobs, and said humans don't want their jobs gone.

Automation is beginning to gain support among democrats. Castro supported automation, and it caused workers in the rust belt and elsewhere to lean Republican.

Immigration and Refugee Crisis
Climate Change has caused an increase in refugees from South and Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

Tulsi Gabbard appeals to Indian and Pacific island voters who were forced to flee into North America from their sinking abodes.

Islam has overtaken Judaism as the third largest religion in the US, only behind Christianity and Atheism.

Republicans fear a future in which white Americans are just a minority.

World War III
World War 3 is ongoing and even many Republicans can agree that Castro is handling the war quite well.

Will this result in a landslide victory like the ones for Franklin D. Roosevelt during WW2?

Debates
Both presidential candidates performed well in the debates.

Election Night
Julian Castro's handling of world war III won him a landslide victory.

He won all the states he had won in the previous election such as Arizona and Texas, and also won Minnesota, Florida and Wisconsin, which voted Republican in 2036.

He also flipped the red states of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and even Utah.

South Carolina and Mississippi were also close, but Tom Cotton's vice presidential pick of Byron Donalds won him those two states.

Cotton won rust belt states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, all of which would hardly ever vote blue again due to the democrats' position on automation.

The results came in the next morning, in a landslide victory for the democrats. It ended up with 391 electoral votes for Castro and 147 for Cotton.