2028 US Elections (Seanathan)

Part of Timeline (Seanathan)

The 2028 United States presidential election was the 61st quadrennial presidential election, held nominally in November 2028. The Democratic ticket of Florida senator Marco Rubio and former Utah representative Mia Love defeated the Democratic ticket of incumbent President Kamala Harris and Vice President Pete Buttigieg.

Democratic Primaries
Kamala Harris faced little resistance in the democratic primaries. South Carolina Representative Joe Cunningham ran, trying to appeal to white moderates, but barely won a few delegates.

Republican Primaries
On the Republican side, there was a battle between the Trump supporters and the Reformists. The 2028 Republican primaries were majorly between Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Texas representative Will Hurd and Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton. Other Candidates included talk show host Sean Hannity. Will Hurd won the Iowa caucuses, but Rubio pulled ahead in the end.

After Marco Rubio recieved the nomination, his vice presidential shortlist was thought to be made up of Mia Love, former Utah Representative, Liz Cheney, Wyoming representative and Tim Scott, governor of South Carolina. He chose Mia Love.

Other Parties
The Libertarian Party won around 1.2% of the Popular Vote. Their presidential ticket consisted of former Michigan Senator Justin Amash and their vice president ticket was former candidate Jo Jorgensen.

The Green Party won around 1.3% of the Popular Vote. Their presidential ticket consisted of former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura and their vice president ticket was African-American activist Angela Walker. Their party won the highest percentage of the vote since the Nader era, in part due to the support for Jesse Ventura in Minnesota.

Other parties won 0.5% of the popular vote, including the Constitution Party.

Climate Change
The Kamala Harris presidency was marked with the passing of many Green New Deal-esque policies. While a sizable chunk of Republicans have accepted climate change as a reality, including Will Hurd, the second place finalist in the Republican primaries, many conservatives think that Harris went a little too far with her reforms.

Marco Rubio, however, denounces Climate Change as 'not important' and that 'there isn't enough evidence to prove that climate change is caused by humans'. However, if he pulls out of the Paris Climate Treaty, he may risk losing a second term, so he must be careful.

Healthcare
Kamala Harris tried to propose Universal and Public Healthcare through the Medicare For All Act, but it didn't pass. She stuck to improving Bidencare.

Marco Rubio advocates for the repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act, and wants to replace it with tax credits and less regulation.

Belarusian Civil War and foreign policy
Many conservatives were critical of president Kamala Harris’s handling of the situation in Belarus. They believe that more could have been done to keep Belarus a united democracy,  rather than just compromising and allowing Russia to annex to eastern portion of the nation.

Once again,  there is a recurring theme of putting America's interests first or allowing compromises to benefit the global interest.

Neoconservatives like Marco Rubio advocate for more aggressive foreign policy.

Euthanasia, Drug legalization, and Abortion
There is also an argument of personal freedom vs. Christian values.

Kamala Harris does not advocate for the legalization of marijuana, which alienates her from more left-leaning Democrats.

During president Harris's term, she allowed for recreational marijuana became decriminalized nationwide, to gain support from these progressives.

Marco Rubio is pledging to repeal this legislature.

In Washington and Colorado, small amounts of hard drugs such as heroin were decriminalized in the past four years, following the same policies passed in Oregon in 2021. British Columbia and Ontario in Canada also put into place similiar legislation in 2023 and 2027 respectively.

A bill that supported the legalization of euthanasia with consent was also was brought up in Congress, but it didn't get enough support to pass in the end.

Abortion is also a key issue.

Debates
Both presidential candidates performed decently in the debates.

Election Night
Kamala Harris picked up the important swing states of Michigan and Wisconsin.

Meanwhile Marco Rubio won major support from Hispanic and Latino voters. This gave him victories in the states of Arizona, Florida, and even Nevada, as well very close margins in New Mexico. He also managed to narrowly defeat Harris in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina.

The results came in the following morning, with 289 electoral votes for Rubio and 249 for Harris.

Marco Rubio was inagaurated as the first Latino president.

Mia Love, his vice president, became the first Utahan and first fully black vice president.