2040 United States Presidential Election (Boebert, Kimmel, Ocasio-Cortes)

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The 2040 United States presidential election took place on Tuesday, November 6, 2040. It was the 62nd quadrennial presidential election. Voters selected presidential electors who voted on December 14, 2040,[2] to select a new president and vice president. The election occured simultaneously alongside elections for the House of Representatives, Senate, and various state and local-level elections.
The Republican ticket of Colorado Senator Lauren Boebert and Virginia Senator Glenn Youngkin defeated the Democratic Socialist ticket of New York Senator Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes and New York Representative Ritchie Torres and the Democratic ticket of President Jimmy Kimmel and Vice President Jahana Hayes. Boebert received 350 electoral votes and 46.7% of the popular vote, Ocasio-Cortes received 158 electoral votes and 36.4% of the popular vote, and Kimmel received 37 electoral votes and 16.9% of the popular vote.
The election marked the largest popular vote defeat for an incumbent President in United States history. It marked the worst popular vote performance for the Democratic Party in history and the worst electoral college defeat since 1984. Puerto Rico voted for the Democratic Socialists in its first election as a state. The Republicans achieved their best electoral college victory since 1988. Ocasio-Cortes staged the best third party performance in history. 
==Background==
Kimmel took office with high approval ratings. However, on October 3rd 2037, as a result of a speculative bubble in the student loan market and rising inflation rates, the stock market crashed and brought on the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Kimmel attempted to inject money into the economy via large stimulus packages, however, the economy largely remained in depression by Election Day. 
Right-wing Republicans criticized the Kimmel Administration for injecting too much money into the economy and for failing to address the student debt crisis. Meanwhile, Progressive Democrats thought that Kimmel didn't invest enough money into the economy and criticized his failure to address the student debt crisis and break up large "too big too fail" corporations. The President's approval ratings dropped to 30% by September 2039.
== Republican Nomination==
In 1938, Republicans retook the Senate and House for the first time since 1930 and felt very confident about their chances for 2040. Over twenty candidates put themselves up for the Republican nomination including Georgia Senator Marjorie Taylor Greene, former Vice President Josh Hawley, Illinois Representative Adam Kinzinger, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, Colorado Senator Lauren Boebert, Kansas Governor Jake LaTurner, Florida Governor Katt Cammack, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, and Texas Representative Will Hurd.
In the fall of 2039, Greene led the field with Cotton in second, Cruz in third, and Boebert in fourth. Failing to gain traction, Hawley withdrew his candidacy in November. LaTurner began gaining traction in the winter, but the Iowa Caucuses still indicated a two horse race between Greene and Cotton with LaTurner, Cruz, and Boebert lagging behind. Super Tuesday saw delegates split evenly across many candidates and Hurd, Cammack, and Kinking withdrew their candidacies and supported LaTurner and Boebert.
The first ballot of the Republican Convention of 2040 resulted with Greene in first, Cotton in second, LaTurner in third, Boebert in fourth, and Cruz in fifth. Seeing his chances as grim, Ted Cruz withdrew his candidacy on the fourth ballot and threw his support to Boebert (who was suddenly gaining support). On the sixth ballot, Boebert overtook LaTurner. LaTurner withdrew on Ballot 9, declining to endorse a candidate. After the tenth ballot, moderates in the party began fearing that a split convention could result in a Greene nomination and urged either Cotton and Boebert to withdraw. Following several weeks of negotiation, Cotton withdrew and supported Boebert who won the nomination on the twenty third ballot. Boebert chose Virginia Senator Glenn Youngkin as her running mate.
==Democratic Nomination==
Despite polling at 27% approval in late 2038, President Jimmy Kimmel consistently assured the Democratic Party that we would run for re-election. Many Democrats doubted Kimmel's ability to win in 2040 and rallied around progressive New York Senator Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes who nearly won the nomination in 2032 and 2036. Ocasio-Cortes won the Iowa Caucuses, the New Hampshire Primaries, and the Nevada Primaries. Kimmel came back with his support in South Carolina and following Super Tuesday the race was a dead draw. 
Entering the convention, Ocasio-Cortes held a slight lead over Kimmel in terms of delegates. Using their strategy from 2032 and 2036, the Democratic Party establishment pressured some Ocasio-Cortes into switching and voting for Kimmel instead. As a result, President Kimmel narrowly won the Democratic Party nomination on the first ballot. Kimmel selected Jahana Hayes as his running mate again.
==Democratic Socialist Nomination==
Following the rigging of the Democratic Party contest, Ocasio-Cortes and dozens of progressives stormed out of the Democratic Party conference. Giving an interview to CNN, Ocasio-Cortes exclaimed "Progressive policies are supported by ninety percent of Democrats, but the corrupt party establishment will do anything to stop our movement from becoming a reality. Democratic Socialists unite! We're no longer Democrats!"
Ocasio-Cortes's speech was well received and opinion polling showed that over 60% of Democrats would support an independent Ocasio-Cortes candidacy. As a result, on August 15th, 2039, at the exact time President Kimmel was giving his re-election address, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes gave an interview to NYT in which she announced her bid for the Presidency on the ticket of her newly formed Democratic Socialist Party. Ocasio-Cortes nominated New York Representative Ritchie Torres as her running mate
==Campaign==
Lauren Boebert campaigned on fiscal conservatism to ease the depression, while Kimmel campaigned on the continuation of his policy, and Ocasio-Cortes promised immense government programs and the biggest breakdowns of banks since the Roosevelt era. Accordingly, Boebert attracted conservatives, Ocasio-Cortes attracted liberals, and Kimmel hoped to form a centrist coalition. In August, Boebert polled at 45%, Kimmel at 26%, and Ocasio-Cortes at 22%. 
Following strong messaging in the campaign and good debate performances, Ocasio-Cortes began attracting disenchanted Kimmel voters. By Election Day the polling was as followed: Boebert at 47%, Ocasio-Cortes at 34%, and Kimmel at 19%.
== Results==
Lauren Boebert won the election with 350 electoral votes and 46.7% of the popular vote. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes came in second place with 158 electoral votes and 36.4% of the popular vote. Jimmy Kimmel came in third place with 37 electoral votes and 16.9% of the popular vote.
This was the worst electoral college defeat for an incumbent President since William Howard Taft in 1908, who received 8 electoral college votes but a larger share of the popular vote than Kimmel. In terms of the popular vote, Kimmel's performance was the worst for an incumbent President in history. Ocasio-Cortes staged the best third party performance in history. Boebert was able to flip the states of Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Virginia from the previous election.
Category:Elections