2024 United States Presidential Election: Donald Trump debacle and Republican collapse

== Background ==
With President Biden's approval rating very low, he decided to retire after one term. Kamala Harris became the presumptive nominee but was upset by Senator Jon Ossoff in the primaries. Ossoff's victory was powered by high enthusiasm from youth voters and a surprisingly high level of support from rural voters who had long since abandoned the Democratic party. 
Donald Trump announced his candidacy on the 4th of July in 2023. The RNC then cancelled all primaries and caucuses, which upset many moderate voters and infuriated Democratic voters. With inflation persistently high and the economy struggling to recover after the covid-19 pandemic, the election was initially considered to be very close. However, Trump fell behind in the polls when he said that he supported Vladimir Putin. His support then cratered after he was indicted by the state of New York for financial crimes just weeks before the election. After that, Ossoff took a double digit lead in the national polls and several Republican Senators and Governors suddenly were in reelection jeopardy.
== Election night timeline ==
Tuesday, November 5th, 2024
7:00 A.M. EST- Jon Ossoff has taken a double digit lead in the national polls, and early voter data shows that Trump will lose in a landslide. Many of his former supporters from 2020 even have come out and admitted that they won't be voting for him.
7:00 P.M.- The first polls close. Ossoff wins the state of Vermont immediately, while Senator Bernie Sanders wins a fourth term. Republican Governor Phil Scott also wins reelection immediately. Virginia also is called for Ossoff immediately despite Trump taking an early lead there, as the mountain of mail-in ballots from the deep blue northeastern part of the state have yet to arrive. Senator Tim Kaine wins reelection. In Kentucky, Trump's lead in the polls was significantly less than they were in 2020, but most networks still call the state for him because of how red it is regardless. Indiana is too early to call, although Trump is expected to win the state. Senator Mike Braun's fate, however, is less certain, while the open gubernatorial race is a pure tossup. Georgia is too early to call as well, with polls showing a significant lead for their Senator over Trump. Florida also is far too early to call, with polls showing dead heat between Trump and Ossoff. Senator Rick Scott is also in for a long fight, as those polls show a very tight race as well. Finally, South Carolina is too early to call. Democrats have invested funds into the state, but Trump is expected to hold onto it at the end.
7:30- Polls close in North Carolina, Ohio, and West Virginia. West Virginia gets called for Trump immediately, to nobody's surprise. Senator Joe Manchin, meanwhile, is fighting for a third full term and polls suggest that he should win at the end. Republicans immediately win the open gubernatorial race there. Ohio and North Carolina are too close to call. Ohio, once considered to be safely in Trump's column, has once more become a major battleground state. Senator Sherrod Brown is expected to win reelection after initially being considered a goner. North Carolina is expected to flip blue, although no call is made yet as it's far too early. Democrats are expected to hold the open gubernatorial race there as well.
8:00- The first of 4 major poll closings. Ossoff wins Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Illinois, and Washington D.C. Trump wins Oklahoma and Alabama. ME-2, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Kansas, and Texas are all too early to call. Ossoff is expected to win ME-2, Pennsylvania and Michigan, while Trump is expected to win Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kansas. Texas has been nip-and-tuck throughout the campaign season, with both candidates exchanging leads in the polls, but the state is tilting towards Ossoff. Finally, Missouri has turned into a dark-horse state within the last month, with several polls showing Trump barely ahead of Ossoff despite him winning the state by over 15 points in 2020. Josh Hawley, however, is expected to win reelection. Mike Kehoe wins the open gubernatorial election there. In the Senate, Elizabeth Warren wins a third term in Massachusetts, Chris Murphy wins a third term in Connecticut, Sheldon Whitehouse wins a third term in Rhode Island, Senator Bob Menendez wins a fourth term in New Jersey, Lisa Blunt Rochester wins the open Senate race in Delaware, and John Sarbanes wins the open Senate race in Maryland. Senator Roger Wicker wins a third term in Mississippi, while Senator Marsha Blackburn wins a second term in Tennessee. The Senate race in Pennsylvania is too early to call, with Senator Bob Casey expected to win a fourth term. The open Senate race in Maine is also too early to call, with Democrat Jared Golden expected to succeed Angus King. In New Hampshire, the gubernatorial race is too close to call, with the embattled Governor Chris Sununu's fate unknown. In Delaware, Democrats hold the open gubernatorial seat immediately. 
Ossoff has a massive lead in Ohio because of the mail-in ballots, but Trump is expected to close the gap. He also has a lead in Georgia because of early mail-in ballots, but Trump is also expected to pull ahead before the Atlanta vote dump comes in. Both candidates are in dead heat in North Carolina, while Ossoff is doing surprisingly well in South Carolina for now. Indiana is also too close to call, with Ossoff maintaining a slight lead because of mail-in votes.
8:17- Ossoff takes large leads in Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and Texas with all the mail-in ballots and urban votes. Meanwhile, Senator Bob Casey wins reelection in Pennsylvania, going on to win by 15 points.
8:30- Trump wins Arkansas; this ends up being the only state that trends rightward this election.
8:54- Ossoff wins the state of New Hampshire, as he leads by 30 points with about a quarter of the vote counted. Trump manages to whittle this down to a 12 point win at the end, but this is still a very poor showing for a Republican in New Hampshire.
9:00- Ossoff wins New York, New Mexico, and Colorado. Trump wins North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska (at-large, NE-3), and Wyoming. Arizona, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Louisiana are too close to call. Ossoff is expected to carry all of those states except for Louisiana, where Trump is expected to win despite Ossoff taking a huge lead early on. Senator Kevin Cramer wins a second term in North Dakota, Senator Deb Fischer wins a third term in Nebraska, Senator John Barrasso wins a third full term in Wyoming, Senator Kyrsten Gillibrand wins a third full term in New York, and Senator Martin Heinrich wins a third term in New Mexico.
Category:Elections