2016 United States Presidential Election (Nixon Retires)

The **2016 United States presidential election** was the 58th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of Incumbent Kentucky Senator Rand Paul and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley defeated the Democratic ticket of Incumbent Vice President Al Gore and California Governor Kamala Harris.

Despite the popularity of Incumbent Hillary Rodham, the economy had started to go on a tail spin in the waning years of the Rodham administration, and the GOP was ready to take advantage.

Gore did face challenges from moderate Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, but was able to win the nomination nonetheless, naming California Governor Kamala Harris as his running mate.

On the GOP side, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush seemed like a front runner, but disintegrated before 2016, and dropped out. From there, Texas Senator Ted Cruz seemed like a clear front runner, having popularity from his party. But shockingly, Cruz lost in an upset to Kentucky Senator Rand Paul in the primaries, who chose South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley as his running mate.

Many Americans felt Paul was too far-right for the country to handle, as he had many right wing social positions, while many still supported Gore from his Vice Presidency.

In a shocking upset, Paul won the Presidency, while losing the popular vote by about 3 million votes. Many people were shocked with the results, despite Nikki Haley being universally liked.

The issues of this election included Immigration, Climate Change, LGBTQ+ Rights, and Health Care.

## Primaries:

### Democratic Primaries:

Vice President Al Gore was deemed the main Democratic front runner throughout the entire period, and despite West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin giving Gore a scare, the latter would win the nomination and named Kamala Harris as his running mate.

 Al Gore

### Republican Primaries:

At the start it seemed that former Florida Governor Jeb Bush would win the primaries. But his campaign disintegrated by 2016. From their, Texas Senator Ted Cruz was seemed to be a frontrunner. But then he was upset in the primaries by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who would name South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley as his running mate.

 Rand Paul

## Campaign/Issues Unique to the Election:

### Democratic Campaign:

Gore would campaign on his environmental policies and stance on LGBTQ+ Rights, while calling Paul a racist for his immigration policies against Latinos and Muslims.

### Republican Campaign:

Paul went on a populist campaign, declaring American jobs were stolen by illegal immigrants, and pledged to build a wall on the Mexican border, while also declaring support for evangelical Christians.

### Immigration:

Paul had declared illegal immigration had stolen American jobs, and they were going to take them back. He planned to build custom controls, along with a border wall at the Mexican border. Gore accused Paul of blocking people just looking for a better life.

### Climate Change:

Paul had denied multiple times climate change's existence, and he said he planned to make laws to reopen coal mines in West Virginia. Gore argued the coal mines would cause more problems with the climate and Paul's multiple arguments went heard, with him saying jobs needed to come back now.

### LGBTQ+ Rights:

Paul declared as President, he would ban same-sex marriage and legal unions. He declared marriage was between a man and a woman alone, and that American had been "Sissified" by the liberals in control. Gore said that Paul was trying to discriminate against people just trying to find love.

### Health Care:

Paul was a major critic of Rodhamcare, declaring he would ban it in favor of the private health care system. Gore pointed that Paul didn't have a different plan in place for people already in Rodhamcare, and that he only cared for the bottom line.

## Results and Aftermath:

Despite losing the popular vote, Paul would win an upset election over Gore. Many democrats claimed the election was rigged, and while a later report did see tampering of some votes by Russia, it wasn't enough to change the results. Gore wouldn't concede until December 16, as a form of peace between the parties.

Paul and Haley would be sworn in on January 20, with Haley becoming the first female Vice President.