2080 US Presidential Election

The 2080 U.S. Presidential Election was the 72nd such election in United States History, and was the first since 2032 to be sent to the House of Representatives. Incumbent President Ralph Walderman was inelligible to run for reelection due to term limits.

The election came at the end of eight years of Libertarian reforms under Walderman that marked the begining of the New Conservatism Movement. Included in these was the 4th Immigration bill, which simlified the immigration code and provided harsher punnishments for illegal immigration. Walderman's second term also whitnessed the passage of the Balanced Budget Ammendment, which required Congress to pass a balanced budget every two years and rendered inelligible for reelection all Congressmen who voted against such a budget if it was not passed. These reforms, coupled with many others, energized Conservative voters and rallied behind the Libertarians.

Primaries
Libertarian Party

President Ralph Walderman, himself a Libertarian, was inelligible to run as the party's nominee, having already served two terms. Early in the race, Vice President Abigail Richards quickly emerged as the leading candidate and was endorsed by Walderman. Richards quickly swept away most of the competition, including Senator David Felburn of Maine, a leading Libertarian, to become the party's nominee. Soon after, she nominated Paul Matthews as her running mate, and officially accepted the nomination at the National Convention in Atlanta.

Democratic Party

At the begining of the campaign, it was expected that the Democratic primary would be grueling, as thirteen major party leaders registered to run, along with five minor candidates. After the New Hampshire primaries, however, most of the candidates dropped out in favor of Governor Richard Johnson of Indiana. Johnson, a leader of the new Progressive Movement, effectively tied up the nomination in April, and won the primary by 100 votes. At the National Convention, Johnson announced Senator Robert Edwards of Kentucky as his running mate, leading critics to dubb them the Corn Belt Ticket.

Independence Party

The Independence Part nominated Bob Smith for President and Harry Pectorus for Vice President. Neither candidate had any governmental experience.

American Party

The American party nominated Frederick Cho for President, who had been the party nominee in 2072 and 2076 and who had run as the Conservative Party's Vice Presidential nominee in 2064. A fluke in the nomination system led Cho to also be nominated for Vice President, leading to confusion and the nomination of three separate candidates for Vice President by the American Party.

Independents

An online organization called Citizens Elect held a virtual convention in 2080, in which Senator Amanda Karmeichal of Vermont was selected as the Independent candidate for President. Karmeichal accepted the nomination and selected Carry Johnson, an New Mexico State Senator, as her running mate. Karmeichal was the first serious independent candidate in fifty years, and became the first to earn votes in the electoral college since 2032.

General Election
One of the biggest issues in the General Election was the role of automatons in society. Since 2070, automatons had been encreasingly used in the workplace, and by 2080 it was being debated whether they should have a further role. The Democratic Party advocated extending the use of automatons to household maitnance and limited judicial positions in lower courts, while the Libertarians took a more conservative approach and wanted to limit the role of automatons in everyday life, particularily in the judicial system. This earned the latter the support of the Factory Workers' Union, which was seeing its jobs lost to automatons, while the Democratic position was favored more by industrialists and the professional class.

In the first debate, Richards and Johnson came out even, with Karmeichal trailing them closely. Richards pulled ahead midway between the first and second debates, partially due to an upswing in the economy caused by the New Farm Bill, in which Richards had cast the deciding vote. Johnson was able to close the gap somewhat in the second debate, however,  and Richards fell as a result to just two percentage points above Karmeichal. Karmeichal, attempting to capitalize on this upset, began an agressive campaign, attacking both Johnson and Richards and products of Washington cronyism. In the end, however, Karmeichal did not have the funds to execute this effectively, and Richards recovered without much harm done to her campaign.

In the third debate, Richards and Johnson attacked eachother feircely in hopes to turn the tide of the election. Richards attacked Johnson's record as a former Senator, in which he had voted for the Saudia Arabian War, while Johnson criticized Richards' lack of experience with foreign affairs. The debate was declared a draw, although some polls showed Johnson leading slightly and others declared Karmeichal way ahead.

Results
Even before the results began coming in on election day, it was clear that the election would be tight. Exit polls showed Richards and Johnson tied at 35%, with Karchmeichal at 30%. When states began being called, the races tightened further, as the swing states split more or less evenly between Richards and Johnson. At 12:00 PM EST, the winner was still unknown, with the states of Florida and North Mexico still uncalled. By 4:00 AM the following day votes were still being tallied, with neither candidate enough in the lead to call the election.

When at last the final states came in at noon the day after the election, neither Karmeichal, Johnson, or Richards had enough votes to claim the election, although Johnson was leading with two elecoral votes. The election was thrown to the House of Representatives, where Democrats and Libertarians were split nearly fifty-fifty. After a day of debating, Richards was elected President by six votes, after a deal with Democrats under which Johnson would be named Secretary of the Treasury was made.