United States Presidential Election of 676

The **Almerian presidential election of 0** was held on Tuesday, November 3, 676, and was the electoral contest to take control of the White House between the Blue Party and the New Red Party. It was the 190th quadrennial election for President and Vice President.

## Nominees

### Blue Party

* Davey Moore, 104th President of the United States
* Reginald Jasper, Vice President of the United States

### New Red Party

* Caitlin Michaels, Governor of Virginia
* Jon Nicol, Senator from Colorado

## Election

### Primary Selections and Nominations

Throughout his first term, President Davey Moore shattered peacetime approval records, reaching an 83% approval rating towards the end of his term. Due to the unbelievable level of support for the president and the Blue Party in general, the New Red Party had a difficult time finding an electable candidate who would be willing to run. They settled on Caitlin Michaels, a decently popular Governor of Virginia who was an establishment Progressive Conservative. Trying to add some energy to the ticket, Michaels chose controversial senator Jon Nicol of Colorado to run with, a senator who made his reputation from making interpretative dances on the senate floor to block bills. President Moore had struck a deal with the Socialist Party to abolish the electoral college on the condition that the party not run a candidate for the next three election cycles, leaving the president free to assemble the entirety of his base for himself and his potential successor.

### Campaign and Issues

With President Moore's approval reaching new highs the New Red Party was left without much to run on. The Blue Party's embrace of Imperialism and expansionism under President Moore was about to lead to the re-inclusion of Lanvida into the union, and public opinion heavily favored continued occupation. The New Red Party still favored Norman Hill's traditional stance of independence, but in the wake of Lanvida's war crimes this stance was considered deeply foolish and unpatriotic. President Moore ran nearly the entire campaign ignoring his opponent, but he did participate in a presidential debate which he won handily. Polls showed President Moore leading by 14 points nationwide and without an electoral college pundits quickly ruled out a New Red upset.

### Results

President Moore was the projected winner within an hour of the first polls closing after managing to win the Northeast in a landslide despite the regions New Red bias. The final popular vote margin put President Moore 20 points ahead, 6 points to the left of what polling projected. This was the first election in which the Blue Party was able to carry the southern popular vote since the reelection of Carlos Mendes in 560, 176 years ago. The triumph of President Moore in the South, by 11 points no less, signified that the South's unbreakable ties to the traditional Red Party was at last beginning to shatter under the weight of generations who grew up after the reunification. Without the South to rely on, analysts raised the possibility that the New Red Party was reaching the end of its lifespan and the party would need yet another revival. This also marked the sixth election and the thirty-sixth year since a non-Norman Hill candidate was able to win for the New Red Party (although Dexter Edwards won the popular vote in 656). After the results of the election were made public, numerous high-up politicians within the New Red Party began to secretly discuss radical ideology shifts to adapt to the electorate.

The closest states this election were New Hampshire, Rhode Island and South Carolina, all of which were decided by less than 2 points. Due to the new popular vote system none of these states had much of a say in the outcome of the election.