2028 United States presidential election (2032: Collapse)

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The **2028 United States presidential election** was the 61st quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 2028. The Democratic ticket of Mitchell Davis, the governor of Colorado and Matthew Lawson, the junior Senator from Minnesota defeated the Republican ticket consisting of incumbent president and former governor of Indiana Mike Pence and vice president and former Senator from Texas Ted Cruz in a highly divisive and split election, which was ultimately decided by the United States House of Representatives, becoming the first election since the 1824 United States presidential election to be decided as such, as no major candidate could secure a majority of 270 seats in the United States Electoral College. In addition to the Democratic and Republican tickets, the center-right Moderate Conservative Party nominated former Republican governor of Indiana Eric Holcomb and Congressman from Michigan Peter Meijer for president and vice president, respectively, while the far-right Patriot Party nominated businessman and political activist Donald Trump Jr. for president and former Republican congressman from Georgia Marjorie Taylor Greene for vice president.

The Democrats won 252 votes in the electoral college, with the Moderate Conservatives polling in second place at 117 electoral votes, while the Republicans earned 86 electoral votes and the Patriots earned 83. However, due to the fact that no candidate could reach the 270 vote line in the electoral college, the vote was put to the House of Representatives, where it became a close race between Holcomb and Davis, while Pence and Trump Jr. were quickly ruled out as possible victors. Ultimately, Davis barely prevailed over Holcomb in the house vote, and was declared to be President-elect of the United States on December 28, 2028. The results of the election angered right-wing army officers, who later staged a coup, beginning a period of dictatorship. The election was also notable for marking the best performance the Libertarian Party ever saw during its existence, and one of the best third-party performances in the history of the United States, with the Libertarians polling 9.05% of the popular vote and receiving over 14 million votes cast, although they failed to win any votes in the electoral college. The election was also noted for the strong performance of Charles White Jr. (known online as "Cr1TiKaL") as a write-in "protest" candidate, receiving over 400,000 votes and falling in fifth place nationally, making up over 0.25% of the popular vote.

## Background

By the time of the 2028 election, the right-wing vote was heavily split, with internal tensions between the factions of the Republican Party having reached their head after the 2024 United States presidential election, which saw the right-wing, conservative faction of Mike Pence prevail over the more moderate, center-right faction of Eric Holcomb and the far-right, ultraconservative faction of Ted Cruz during the primaries that year, described as the "most hotly divided Republican primaries in modern U.S. history". Even though Pence reluctantly received the backing of his more moderate opponents within the Republican Party in an attempt to rally support to beat out incumbent Kamala Harris, the relations between the two factions became even more soured after Pence opted to pick Cruz as his running mate, attempting to repair his relationship with the far-right faction of the Republican Party as opposed to the center-right. Pence's attempts to repair the internal fractures of the party would ultimately be to no avail, however, as entrepreneur Mike Lindell, congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, senator Josh Hawley and several other pro-Trump figures who had helped assist Trump in his attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election, and who had branded Pence as a traitor for his actions after said election, particularly his decision to invoke the 25th Amendment against Trump and remove him from the presidency on December 26, 2020, declared their departure from the Republican Party on November 19, 2024, forming the Patriot Party.

Pence also managed to alienate more moderate factions away from him after the election, with the decision to pick Ted Cruz as the Republican vice presidential nominee by Pence angering moderates who accused Pence of attempting to appeal to the far-right as opposed to the more moderate factions of the party which made up the majority in much of the Rust Belt, including Pence's own native Indiana and several other regions across the country, particularly more urban areas of the Midwest and Great Plains. It is widely believed that Pence's decision to pick Cruz as his vice presidential nominee cost him a considerable percentage of the vote in states like Illinois and Ohio in 2024, with Pence becoming the second presidential candidate in a row to win the electoral college without carrying Ohio, following Joe Biden's defeat in Ohio in 2020, ending a period of time that had lasted since 1948 where Ohio had always voted for the winning candidate. Pence proved to be even less popular during his presidency as he was during the election, with his approval rating frequently dipping below 35% as he faced harsh criticism from figures on both sides of the aisle, and he was noted as being "in about the worst position of any president since Herbert Hoover by the time of the mid-terms" in 2026.

The mid-term cycle was considered to be a devastating blow for Pence and the Republican Party, with the Moderate Conservatives, Patriots and even Libertarians gaining several seats in the House of Representatives. The divided Republican vote meant that, for the first time since 2008, the Republicans held a minority of seats from the traditional Republican stronghold of Indiana, considered an especially strong blow to Pence as he had lost control of his own home state in Congress. The Republicans also lost control of Wyoming's at-large congressional district to Libertarian Marshall Burt, alongside another 80 seats in what was the worst Republican performance in many decades. The Moderate Conservatives, Democrats and Libertarians came to control the House in a de facto sense, while the Senate was held in a 50-50 tie. The 2028 election was noted by political analysts to be setting up to be "possibly the most divisive and interesting presidential election since 1860". A speech given by Libertarian congressman from Indiana and 2020 Indiana gubernatorial nominee Donald Rainwater declared on June 8, 2027 that "the two-party system has been broken" as the Republican Party waned in influence in the months leading up to the election.

## Nominations

### Democratic Party

Colorado governor Mitchell Davis unexpectedly prevailed in a crowded Democratic primary where he was widely considered the underdog candidate to more experienced politicians like former Maine governor Janet Mills and became the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party on June 9, 2028, when he won enough delegates to ensure his nomination at the national convention. He formally became the party's nominee on August 20. His running mate, senator from Minnesota Matthew Lawson was the first openly LGBTQ+ person to appear on a major party ticket.

### Republican Party

Every incumbent president seeking another term has been renominated by their party since 1884, and this was also the case with incumbent president Mike Pence and vice president Ted Cruz, who easily won nomination by the Republican National Convention to a second term as President and Vice President with virtually no organized opposition.

### Moderate Conservative Party

The 2028 election was the first election in which the Moderate Conservatives (later simply known as the Moderates starting in 2031) stood a candidate for President and Vice President of the United States. Former Indiana governor and ill-fated 2024 Republican presidential candidate Eric Holcomb prevailed over former Vermont governor Phil Scott in a narrow primary which saw the more conservative faction of the Moderate Conservatives led by Holcomb face off with the more liberal faction of the Moderate Conservatives led by Scott. Although it appeared as if the two factions would be unable to come to an agreement, eventually a compromise was reached where the more conservative Holcomb would be picked as the presidential nominee while the more liberal Peter Meijer of Michigan would be picked as the vice presidential nominee. It was also announced that Scott would be placed on the presidential cabinet should Holcomb win the election, although what position he would hold was unclear.

### Patriot Party

Donald Trump Jr., the son of former president Donald Trump prevailed over entrepreneur and 2024 Patriot presidential nominee Mike Lindell and Missouri senator Josh Hawley in a tightly contested Patriot primary, being declared the party's nominee on June 18, 2028. Trump Jr. chose former Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (notable for being expelled from the House of Representatives in 2026 for making threats toward other members of Congress) as his running mate.

### Libertarian Party

Whitney Bilyeu, who served as the chair of the Libertarian National Committee from 2021 until 2026 received the Libertarian nomination for President of the United States on May 27, 2028, the Libertarians picked Justin Amash, a former Libertarian congressman from Michigan as her running mate. The Libertarians achieved ballot access in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

### Green Party

Bob Fitrakis became the presumptive nominee for the Green Party on June 9, 2028, and officially received the nomination on July 10 of that year. Fitrakis secured ballot access in 37 states and the District of Columbia.

### New Internet Party

The non-registered, so-called "New Internet Party" nominated the internet personality Charles White Jr. (Cr1TiKaL) for president and Twitch streamer Jeremy Elbertson (Jerma985) for vice president without their prior consent. The party did manage to register itself in Connecticut and gained official ballot access there, although votes filed elsewhere were made as write-ins.

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