2020 United States Presidential Election (Cancer Comes Late)

The **2020 United States presidential election** was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Republican ticket of former Governer of South Carolina Nikki Haley and Incumbent Florida Senator Marco Rubio defeated the Democratic ticket of Incumbent President Joe Biden and Vice President Amy Klobuchar. The election took place against the backdrop of the global COVID-19 pandemic and related recession. It was the first election since 1992 and the first in the 21st century, in which the incumbent president failed to win a second term. The election saw the highest voter turnout by percentage since 1900, with Haley receiving more than 76 million votes, surpassing Barack Obama's record of 69.5 million votes from 2008, which was the most votes ever cast for a candidate in a U.S. presidential election. Biden also received over 68 million votes, which surpassed his 2016 margin of over 66 million.

In a competitive primary that featured the most candidates for any political party in the modern era of American politics, Haley secured the Republican presidential nomination over his closest rival, Senator Ted Cruz. Haley's running mate, Rubio, became the first Latin American vice presidential nominee on a major party ticket. Biden secured re-nomination against token opposition in the Democratic primaries. Jo Jorgensen secured the Libertarian presidential nomination with Spike Cohen as her running mate, and Howie Hawkins secured the Green presidential nomination with Angela Nicole Walker as his running mate.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, a record number of ballots were cast early and by mail. In a shocking turn from the expected media outcome, Republicans and Democrats were about matched in mail-in votes. As a result of a large number of mail-in ballots, some swing states saw delays in vote counting and reporting; this led to major news outlets delaying their projection of Haley and Rubio as the president-elect and vice president-elect until near 12:00 EST of November 6, two and a half days after the election. Major media networks project a state for a candidate once there is high statistical confidence that the outstanding vote would be unlikely to prevent the projected winner from ultimately winning that state.

Haley ultimately received the majority in the Electoral College with 291 electoral votes, while Biden received 247. Key to Haley's victory were her wins in the Democratic-leaning Great Lakes states of Michigan and Wisconsin, along with narrow states in North Carolina and Nevada, which Biden carried in 2016 and whose combined 47 electoral votes were enough to swing the election to either candidate. Haley also became the first Republican to win Michigan since 1988, and the first in Wisconsin since 1984. Biden became one of three presidents, along with John Quincy Adams and Benjamin Harrison to lose the popular vote twice while still being elected president, the first for either party since 1980.

Civil unrest emerged in Democratic leaning states from then on, with riots occurring in Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Denver, and other cities. Biden demanded the riots to stop, as while he knew the people were upset of his loss, he said that violence would solve nothing, and demanded a peaceful transition of Presidents. Haley and Rubio were sworn in January 20, 2021 as the 46th President and 49th Vice President specifically. The main issues of the election included the public health and economic impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; civil unrest in reaction to the police murder of George Floyd and others; the Supreme Court following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and confirmation of Jacqueline Nguyen; and the future of the Affordable Care Act