2018 Presidential Election Season 15

The Mock Election presidential election of season 15 was the 12th seasonal presidential election, held on Saturday, June 23, 2018. Incumbent Independent President Jayanth Karuturi decided not to run for re-election. Concurrent with the presidential election, United States House elections for each of the seven districts were also held. Presidential primaries and the United States Senate general election were held two weeks prior on June 9, 2020.

Secretary of Defense Trey Cranfield won by just over three percent, making it -- at the time -- the closest presidential election ever contested in MEC history. Pundits on both sides of the aisle accredited Cranfield's campaign with a stunning upset over Democratic challenger, Ivor M, who led most polls prior to the election.

After taking office, Cranfield resigned three days into his tenure following the Russia/India crisis. He was succeeded by vice president Tom Kirkman.

## Democratic Party

### **Candidates**

#### **Declared**

* Mark Kennedy Gallagher, Former Secretary of State and D5 Senator, from Michigan
* Quron Sainsbury, Political Activist from New York
* Ivor M, Speaker of the House, D2 Senator and Season 14 Vice Presidential Candidate from Colorado
	+ Running Mate: Michael Walker, Former District 6 Representative, Former DNC Deputy Chairman and D6 Senator from Massachusetts (Nominated)

#### **Declined**

* Tom Kirkman, Former D2 Representative, Season 14 Presidental Candidate from Arizona (Running mate of Trey Cranfield)
* Rickey Adams Former D5 Representative and D4 Representative from Tennessee (Endorsed Ivor M)
* Nathan Brown, Former D4 Representative and D4 Senate Candidate from Georgia (Endorsed Ivor M)
* Michael Walker, Former D6 Representative, DNC Deputy Chairman, Vice Presidential candidate from Massachusetts (Running mate of Ivor M)
* Andrew Dominguez, D2 Senator and Fmr. D2 Representative, from Arizona (Endorsed Ivor M)
* Benjamin Asher, D1 Senator and Former Secretary of State, from California (Endorsed Ivor M)
* John Lampros, D5 Representative, former D4 Senator and Secretary of Homeland Security, from Georgia (Endorsed Ivor M) (Don't know who he voted for)
* Mayowa Olabode, Former D6 Representative and candidate for Presiden tin Season 14, from New Hampshire

#### **Withdrawn**

* Kelvin Hawthorne, Former President, Former Vice President, Former D7 Representative, Former HUD Secretary, Former Deputy Defense Secretary from Illinois

* Bryson Pittman, Political Activist
* Joshua Huntington, Former Vice President, D4 Senator, D1 Representative from Washington (Running as Libertarian)
* Jackson Hitchcock Former Speaker of the House, from Michigan (Running for DNC Chair) (Endorse Ivor M.)

### **Endorsements**

* Rickey Adams Former D5 Representative and D4 Representative from Tennessee
* Nathan Brown, Former D4 Representative and D4 Senate Candidate from Georgia
* Michael Walker, Former D6 Representative, DNC Deputy Chairman, Vice Presidential candidate from Massachusetts
* Andrew Dominguez, D2 Senator and Fmr. D2 Representative from Arizona
* Mayowa Olabode, Former D6 Representative and Season 14 Presidential Candidate from New Hampshire
* Griffin Bates, Former D6 Senate candidate and D6 House nominee, from Pennsylvania
* Easton Wilkins, D3 House candidate, from Kansas
* Jackson Hitchcock Former Speaker of the House from Michigan
* Roman Thaddeus, former D2 Representative and (former) GOP Chairman, from Nevada
* Landen Shuey, former D2 Senator, Candidate for President in Season 15, from Colorado
* Ashton Shabazz, Political Activist
* Terrell McCann, former D7 Representative and House Majority Leader, DNC Vice Chairman, Vice President, from Ohio

## Republican Party

### **Candidates**

#### **Declared**

* Trey Cranfield, Former GOP Chairman, Secretary of Defense, Member of the BoD from Indiana
	+ Tom Kirkman, Secretary of State, Former D2 Representative, Season 14 Presidental Candidate from Arizona (Nominated)

#### **Declined**

* Domenic Hoxholli, D6 Senator, former Presidential Candidate from Massachusetts

#### **Withdrawn**

* Caleb Caron, Former President and Former Vice President from North Carolina
* Joshua Huntington, Former Vice President, D4 Senator, D1 Representative from Washington (Running as Democrat)

### **Endorsements**

* Benjamin Asher, D1 Senator
* Matthew Sorrells, Candidate for House
* Claudio Aleman, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, from California
* Rafael Munguia, former D3 Representative, from Texas/Illinois
* Stephen Bryant, former Secretary of Education, former D4 House nominee, former D5 Senate candidate, from Alabama

## Libertarian Party

### **Candidates**

#### **Declared**

* Landen Shuey, former D2 Senator and Season 13 Presidential candidate from Colorado
* Joshua Huntington, Former Vice President, D4 Senator, D1 Representative from Washington (Nominated)
	+ Running Mate: Evan Hunt, Former D3 Senator from New York

### **Polling**

* Evan Hunt, Former D3 Senator from New York
* Template:Jakob Tawney, Political Analyst, and Businessman.

## Green Party

### **Candidates**

#### **Declined**

* Golden Gamers Former D5 Representative from Virginia
* Rickey Adams Former D5 Representative, current D4 Representative, Former Owner of the Justice Democrats, National Director of Wolf Pac and Former Chairman from Tennessee (Endorsed Ivor M)
* Mayowa Olabode, Former D6 Representative and Season 14 Presidential Candidate from New Hampshire (Endorsed Ivor M)

## Independents

### **Candidates**

#### **Declared**

* Kameron Scott, Former House Majority Whip (D), Candidate for D-1 Senate and D-4 House

####  **Potential**

* Chris Miller, member of the BOD, Former Senator, and from Pennsylvania

### **Declined**

* A Proud Georgian, former Senator and Former President from Georgia

## General Election

### **Predictions**

 MCNN
 MEBC
 TNN

### **Polling**

**With Cranfield and Hawthorne**

**With Cranfield and Pittman**

**With Cranfield and Ivor**

**With Caron and Hawthorne**

**With Cranfield, Hawthorne, and Shuey**

**With Ivor, Hawthorne, and Shuey**

**With Cranfield, Hitchcock, Shuey, and Adams**

**With Cranfield, Ivor, Shuey, and Caron**

**With Ivor, Cranfield, Shuey, Poltimela, and Caron**

**With Sainsbury, Cranfield, Shuey, Scott, and Caron**

**With Hawthorne, Cranfield, Shuey, Scott, and Caron**

**With Gallagher, Cranfield, Shuey, Scott, and Caron**

**With Ivor, Cranfield, Shuey, Scott, and Caron**

**With Hawthorne, Cranfield, Shuey, Scott, and Caron**

**With Sainsbury, Cranfield, Shuey, Scott, and Caron**

**With Hawthorne Cranfield, Shuey, Scott, and Caron**

**With Ivor,Trey, and Shuey**

## General Election Campaign

General Election Campaign was very interesting. Furthermore, there has been a lot of rallies, endorsements and a one debate. The campaigns were mostly clean. During the campaign candidates mainly focused on their plans, vision and policies. However, some campaigns were mostly based on attacks while others were based on rhetoric or policy. On the Election Eve 3 most prominent candidates had a debate.

## Election Night

On June 23, 2018, the Season 15 General selection commenced. In the early hours, Cranfield and Mestrovic traded leads. This would remain the case into the late morning and afternoon.

During the campaign trail there were several key swing states of Maine, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida, Michigan, Texas, Minnesota and Ohio.

On June 24, 2018, the results were to be determined by poll closings at 3:00am EST. At around 1am EST, Mestrovic trailed Cranfield by a mere one vote. By 2am, the margin opened to two. And finally, once the polls had closed, Cranfield edged out Mestrovic 29-27.

Trey Cranfield and Tom Kirkman were officially declared the winners at 3:30am EST with complete confirmation the following afternoon. This was later known to be one of the closest Presidential Elections in MEC history. Many believe that the Cranfield campaign pulled off one of the biggest MEC political upsets, considering almost every poll had them trailing. The final vote tallies were as follows;

Trey Cranfield - 29

Ivor M - 27

Joshua Huntington - 5

Kameron Scott - 2