2044 United States Presidential Election (Solidarity)

The 2044 United States presidential election was the 65th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 1, 2044. The Republican ticket of Singer/Actor Dwayne "Lil' Wayne" Carter and Political Commentator Travis L. Andrysiak defeated the American Solidarity ticket of Human Rights Activist Elizabeth A. Smart and former Secretary of State Joseph P. Kennedy III. Incumbent president Andrew M. Yang opted not to run for re-election due to record low approval ratings. This was the first election in which an African American was at the top of a major party ticket since Barack Obama in 2012.

Following Yang's announcement that he would not run for re-election, citing his low approval ratings. It seemed as though America would return to the two party system without an Independent candidate, this quickly came to fruition as no major Independent candidates joined the race. The Republican Party had a competitive primary, mainly between the 64 year old Dwayne M. Carter, who was instrumental in the plot to end Human Trafficking, which took place during the 2020s, and 39 year old Political Commentator Travis L. Andrysiak, who rose to stardom inside of the Republican Party throughout the late 2030s and early 2040s. Despite his mass popularity, Andrysiak was pegged as too young for the Presidency, being the youngest major candidate in American History, second place being John F. Kennedy in 1960. Carter won the nomination and immediately chose Andrysiak, seeing him as a good fit to reflect the Conservative ideals of himself. The American Solidarity Party saw a competitive primary as well, many people were curious as to who would continue on the legacy of President Gabbard, who had left office 4 years earlier before the Economic Crisis took effect.

One of the largest points of contention in this Election Cycle was the current economic situation of America, that being one of chaos. Many attributed this to the launch of the "Freedom Dividend" by President Yang, however it seems that this likely was mostly caused by the beginning of World War 3 in 2041. WW3 was also a large point of contention, however both nominees pledged not to get involved in the conflict due to public opinion being massively against intervention. The Republican ticket promised to reform the "Freedom Dividend" into a negative income tax to provide a fair compensation for work, this legislation most vocally being supported by Andrysiak. Meanwhile, the Smart/Kennedy ticket campaigned on the promise of the complete elimination of the Dividend.

Due to Andrysiak's mistakenly defamatory comments about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, (also known as the Mormon Church) Andrysiak and Carter had an incredibly difficult time in the Western U.S., specifically the Rockies. Andrysiak detailed in a speech of his that he previously during his childhood was a member of the Church, and that he experienced a massive lack of answers, as well as a constantly shifting rhetoric within the Church. These statements offended many members of the Mormon Church, leading to the poll numbers of the Carter/Andrysiak Campaign slipping inside the states of Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico. However, Carter overperformed in the sunbelt states such as Lousiana and Mississippi, largely because of his residence there and "one of the locals" image.

The Republican Party
Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. became the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party on May 20th when he secured enough delegates to ensure his nomination at the national convention. He was formally nominated at the convention on July 14th. Major candidates were determined by the various media based on common consensus. The following were invited to sanctioned televised debates based on their poll ratings.

Carter received 21,544,877 total votes in the primary. Both Carter and Andrysiak won at least one primary, with Carter receiving the highest number of votes and Travis Andrysiak receiving the second highest.

American Solidarity Party
Elizabeth Ann Smart became the presumptive nominee of the American Solidarity Party on April 12th, 2020, when she secured enough delegates to ensure her nomination at the national convention. She was formally nominated at the convention on July 22.

Smart received 19,991,417 total votes in the primary. Smart won every primary held, with Smart receiving the highest number of votes and Kennedy receiving the second highest.

Issues unique to the election
The Freedom Dividend

Former President Andrew Yang issued the "Freedom Dividend" via executive order 16043 on March 17th of 2041, which payed out $1000 per month to every American over the age of 18. Many opposing Politicians at the time declared this to be an abuse of power, and pushed for impeachment, however these charges moved nowhere. The Government had difficulty paying this out and was forced to increase taxes on technological companies and gasoline companies. Many attribute the economic recession and collapse that followed the executive action to this action. As a result, public opinion grew heavily against these taxes, as well as the dividend by association. While the Carter/Andrysiak Campaign promised to reform the legislation into a Negative Income Tax for all those who made less than 40,000 dollars per year. However, the Smart/Kennedy Campaign promised to entirely repeal the executive action.

World War 3

Three years earlier in 2041, Shen Li Tao's China attacked Taiwan and Russian Siberia leading to an explosion of war over the European and Asian Continents, Despite numerous American Allies being involved, nations such as Japan, South Korea, France, The UK, Scotland, and Israel, American public opinion held strongly against intervention, and the two major campaigns promised not to intervene under any circumstances, despite the fact that by this time, the war had developed to become more advantages for China and the Belt and Road Pact. Both parties held continually isolationist agendas, despite multiple requests from Israel and France to intervene.

Executive Abuse

President Yang received much controversy due to his large use of Executive Orders to push through legislation that likely would have been rejected by Congress, executive orders such as EO16040, EO16043 and EO16044. Despite these actions, Yang was acquitted by the Senate from his Abuse of Power charges in 2042. The public had a largely mixed attitude towards the acquittal, many believing that Yang deserved impeachment, this lead to a lot of people campaigning to impeach Yang so he is unable to run for office again, however this movement fizzled out when Yang announced he would not seek reelection. However this lead to a much larger argument surrounding Executive Order Abuse, and how far Executive Orders should extend throughout the Government. Elizabeth Smart campaigned on the platform of eliminating Executive Orders all together to end the issue all together, however the Carter campaign fired back on the issue from another point of view, that executive action sometimes might be necessary, however it might be helpful to limit the number of executive orders per term.

Notable expressions, phrases, and statements
(unfinished)

By Carter/Andrysiak


 * "Coming from the man who supported Abortion.": An interrupting response by VP nominee Travis Andrysiak, after Joe Kennedy stated during the Vice Presidential Debates that "Capital Punishment is a cruel practice that must be abandoned for the soul of our nation."
 * "What's your point, exactly?": A common quip used primarily by Andrysiak during debates to confuse opponents.
 * "I would've had you arrested with the rest of your friends.": Dwayne Carter during the Primary Debates, directed towards Senator Ben Sasse, while he was speaking on issues about Human Trafficking.
 * "Softer than a fleece blanket.": A response by Andrysiak during the Primaries when asked about the previous administration's handling of foreign relations with Shenist China.
 * "Greatness above Government": The most popular campaign slogan for Dwayne Michael Carter, commonly something chanted at his rallies.

By Smart/Kennedy


 * "Travis The Maniac": A clear jab at Travis Andrysiak's aggressive debating strategies, commonly used by Joseph Kennedy III.
 * "Not our business": Smart referring to the state of World War 3 and the proposition of American joining the conflict.
 * "Revive the Dream": Smart's leading campaign slogan, referring to the American Dream.

Election night and the next day
The news media frequently placed both sides near equal in polling, and it was considered by many to become one of the closer elections in American History, however on Election Night, Carter pulled ahead in key swing states such as Alabama, Kansas, California, Connecticut and Colorado. At 11:49 PM (ET) on Election Night, California was called for Carter, placing him over the 268 electoral vote margin needed for victory.

at 12:30 AM (ET) on Wednesday morning, Carter shared a phone call with Smart during which she conceded the election, 20 minutes later she made her public concession speech. By 1:30 AM. (ET) Carter made his victory speech, thanking his supporters.

Later on Wednesday, Smart made a second speech calling for her supporters to "Rally behind the new president and support American Democracy". She was heavily praised for her humility.

It took multiple days for the final state to be called for Smart, that being Virginia, placing her at a final of 206 EVs. It became the second closest state result in American history by percentage, the first being the state of Florida in the Presidential Election of 2000.

Electoral results
The numbers in the table are the results certified by each state, detailed in the table of the results by state further below.

Close states
States where the margin of victory was under 1% (26 electoral votes; 10 won by Carter, 16 won by Smart):


 * 1) Virginia, 0.0013% (543 votes) – 12 electoral votes (won by Smart/Kennedy)
 * 2) Colorado, 0.73% (26,782 votes) – 10 electoral votes (won by Carter/Andrysiak)
 * 3) Montana, 0.82% (7,058 votes) – 4 electoral votes (won by Smart/Kennedy)

States/districts where the margin of victory was between 1% and 5%:


 * 1) Oklahoma, 1.31% (47,762 votes) – 8 electoral votes
 * 2) Alabama, 1.57% (44,134 votes) – 9 electoral votes
 * 3) Alaska, 2.04% (11,074 votes) – 3 electoral votes
 * 4) Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District, 2.17% – 1 electoral vote
 * 5) Nebraska Total, 3.32% (43,714 votes) – 2 electoral votes
 * 6) Kansas, 3.91% (79,520 votes) – 6 electoral votes
 * 7) Florida, 3.98% (698,382 votes) – 35 electoral votes
 * 8) Connecticut, 4.22% (55,453 votes) – 6 electoral votes
 * 9) California, 4.71% (957,786 votes) - 50 electoral votes

States where the margin of victory was between 5% and 10%:


 * 1) North Carolina, 5.20% (373,755 votes) - 17 electoral votes
 * 2) Massachusetts, 5.84% (190,380 votes) - 10 electoral votes
 * 3) Nebraska's 1st Congressional District, 5.91% - 1 electoral vote
 * 4) Washington, 6.65% (244,965 votes) - 11 electoral votes
 * 5) Kentucky, 6.75% (218,824 votes) - 9 electoral votes
 * 6) Illinois, 7.10% (366,508 votes) - 15 electoral votes
 * 7) Arkansas, 7.40% (158,647 votes) - 6 electoral votes
 * 8) Texas, 7.52% (1,582,463 votes) - 44 electoral votes
 * 9) Mississippi, 8.29% (134,988 votes) - 6 electoral votes
 * 10) Nebraska's 3rd Congressional District, 8.98% - 1 electoral vote
 * 11) Delaware, 9.53% (46,296 votes) - 3 electoral votes
 * 12) Tennessee, 11.92% (907,441 votes) - 15 electoral votes
 * 13) Vermont, 13.16% (52,076 votes) - 3 electoral votes
 * 14) Ohio, 13.64% (907,396 votes) - 15 electoral votes