2028 Presidential Election (Stanlee Hudson)

The **2028 United States Presidential Election** was the 61st quadrennial Presidential Election held on Tuesday, November 7. The Republican ticket of Incumbent President Ted Cruz and Vice President Nikki Haley defeated the Democratic ticket of former Vice President Kamala Harris and former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. Cruz would become the first President to win reelection since Barrack Obama in 2012 and the first Republican to do so since George W. Bush in 2004.

After his first term, and being popular with the American people, President Ted Cruz became the Republican candidate for a second time despite a great campaign from former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. After her democratic predecessor lost the election 4 years ago, former Vice President Kamala Harris went through the Democratic Primaries after stiff challenges from Former Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff, and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Some of the main issues that were debated in this election were LGBTQ+ Rights, Banning Taxes for Religious Buildings, World War 3, and the Supreme Court.

## Primaries

### Republican Primaries

Despite being the Incumbent President and with his approval rating high with the American people, Cruz's run for reelection was not without challenges, he did win the primaries, but not before a great campaign from former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, who tried to focus on a more moderate White House, instead of Cruz's conservative agenda.

**2028 Republican Presidential Candidate**
 Roles

### Democratic Primaries

Former Vice President Kamala Harris won the primaries despite fierce competition from Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff, and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. After she made it to the DNC, she declared former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg as her VIce President Nominee.

**2028 Democratic Presidential Candidate**
 Roles

## Campaign/Issues Unique to the Election

### Republican Campaign:

Cruz's slogan for his reelection was simple: Run It Back. He also campaigned very aggressively in states Biden had won 4 years ago, which would pay off when election day finally came.

### Democratic Campaign:

Harris' slogan for her campaign was Strength in Numbers. She campaigned very aggressively in the states of Texas, North Carolina, and Michigan.

### Issues Unique to the Election:

#### LGBTQ+ Rights:

Throughout his time as President, the main group that disapproved of President Cruz was LGBTQ+ people. Cruz had tried to stick with many policies that the last Republican President Donald Trump had when looking at LGBTQ+ Rights. But because of the Equality Act passed in March of 2021, Cruz could not ban transgender military members, or stop them from serving, Harris also promoted giving LGBTQ+ Rights more expansion in government, Cruz opposed this, saying it would be against religious freedom of Catholics and other Christian groups. This statement gave him support from Catholics and helped him on election day. Cruz said he would attempt to repeal the equality act in favor of a new Religious Freedom Act.

#### Banning taxes for Religious Buildings:

Continuing to build his support from Catholics and Christians, Cruz proposed a plan that would eliminate Churches having to pay the government taxes, saying once again, it would be against religious freedom, that he said the founding fathers had left Great Britain's kingdom about 250 years ago and started a revolution to win their freedom. Harris argued that in that case, that other buildings should not be taxed, because they may not have the same beliefs as someone from the Churches that Cruz was going to stop taxing.

#### World War 3:

Harris wanted to isolate from the ongoing World War 3, while Cruz wanted to stay and fight with the allies, saying that they had to defended the democracy our founding fathers gave us so many years ago. Cruz said they had the right to defend the democracy from the dangers of the Axis Powers.

#### The Supreme Court:

Harris said if she was elected, she would attempt to implement a law that would put Supreme Court Justices, in the hands of the people, making a plan instead of a President appointing them, they would run for an election just like the Legislative and Executive branches of the government. Cruz said that this would be unconstitutional stating it would be against the traditions our founding fathers gave us in 1787, and that if they were here they would be disappointed by Harris' new law.

## Debates:

### 1st Debate:

The first debate was held at Wold Performing Arts Center at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida.

### 2nd Debate:

The second debate was held at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.

### V.P. Debate:

The Vice Presidential debate was held at Veale Center at case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

### 3rd Debate:

The third and final debate was held at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.

## Results and Aftermath:

 File:2028 Presidential Election (Stanlee Hudson) Take 3.png
After winning in an upset in 2024, Cruz would win in a landslide in 2028, flipping New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Colorado, and Nevada.

The first polls closed at 7:00 EST in the states of Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and Vermont.

Indiana (11): Cruz (R), Held

Kentucky (8): Cruz (R), Held

South Carolina (9): Cruz (R), Held

Georgia (16): Cruz (R), Held

Virginia (13): Harris (D), Held

Vermont (3): Harris (D), Held

The second polls closed at 7:30 EST in the states of Ohio, West Virginia, and North Carolina.

Ohio (17): Cruz (R), Held

West Virginia (4): Cruz (R), Held

North Carolina (16): Cruz (R), Held

The third polls closed at 8:00 EST in the states of Oklahoma, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Illinois, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and the District of Columbia.

Oklahoma (7): Cruz (R), Held

Florida (30): Cruz (R), Held

Alabama (9): Cruz (R), Held

Tennessee (11): Cruz (R), Held

Illinois (19): Harris (D), Held

Maryland (10): Harris (D), Held

Delaware (3): Harris (D), Held

Pennsylvania (19): Cruz (R), Flipped

New Jersey (14): Harris (D), Held

Connecticut (7): Harris (D), Held

Rhode Island (4): Harris (D), Held

Massachusetts (11): Harris (D), Held

New Hampshire (4): Cruz (R), Flipped

Maine (4): Cruz (R), Held and flipped District 1

District of Columbia (3): Harris (D), Held

The fourth polls closed at 8:30 EST in the states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Mississippi.

Missouri (10): Cruz (R), Held

Arkansas (6): Cruz (R), Held

Mississippi (6): Cruz (R), Held

The fifth polls closed at 9:00 EST in the states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Kansas, Nebraska, Louisiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

Texas (40): Cruz (R), Held

New Mexico (5): Cruz (R), Held

Arizona (11): Cruz (R), Held

Kansas (6): Cruz (R), Held

Nebraska (5): Cruz (R), Held and flipped District 2

Louisiana (8): Cruz (R), Held

North Dakota (3): Cruz (R), Held

South Dakota (3): Cruz (R), Held

Colorado (10): Harris (D), Held

Wyoming (3): Cruz (R), Held

Minnesota (10): Cruz (R), Flipped

Wisconsin (10): Cruz (R), Flipped

Michigan (15): Cruz (R), Held

The sixth polls closed at 10:00 EST in the states of Iowa, Montana, Nevada, and Utah.

Iowa (6): Cruz (R), Held

Montana (4): Cruz (R), Held

Nevada (6): Cruz (R), Flipped

Utah (6): Cruz (R), Held

The seventh polls closed at 11:00 EST in the states of California, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.

California (55): Harris (D), Held

Washington (12): Harris (D), Held

Oregon (8): Harris (D), Held

Idaho (4): Cruz (R), Held

The eighth and final polls closed at 12:00 in the states of Hawaii and Alaska.

Hawaii (4): Harris (D), Held

Alaska (3): Cruz (R), Held

At 10:00 EST, after Iowa was called for Cruz, he had gotten the 270 needed to win. At 1:43, Harris called Cruz conceding the election. Democrats were not happy with Cruz winning reelection, but protests were less violent than they were in 2024. On January 20, 2029, Cruz was reinaugurated.