2020 if Trump died of COVID

[Roll Roons]

Let's say the COVID infection that sent Trump to the hospital took a turn for the worse and he died on October 6th.

Pence presumably runs in Trump's place, but who does he pick as his last-minute running mate? What else would have happened in the last month? What do the Electoral College, Senate and House results look like?

[Vosem]

Pence gets an inauguration bump and wins. No idea who he picks as VP, though it seems like the most obvious choice would be Tim Scott. Republicans certainly hold the Senate in this scenario, though I'm not entirely sure about them taking the House.

[Alben Barkley]

Biden probably wins by more. The conspiracy theories would be crazy, including that Pence and the GOP had Trump killed. LOTS of people staying home and not voting for him. Lots of chaos, possibly even worse than in our timeline.

[GregTheGreat657]

R's aren't as energized as in our timeline, while many D's already would have voted, though in-person turnout would decrease on both sides. Pence picks Nikki Haley as his running mate. D's still gain the Senate, and they don't lose as many seats as in OTL

[Agonized-Statism]

President Mike Pence (R-IN) / Fmr. UN Ambassador Nikki Haley (R-SC)
Fmr. Vice President Joe Biden (D-DE) / Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) ✔

Quieter election and no storming of the capitol, but lots of conspiracy theories and probably an American Years of Lead if enough Trump supporters decide they can't change the system.

[Schiff for Senate]

Biden probably wins by more. The conspiracy theories would be crazy, including that Pence and the GOP had Trump killed. LOTS of people staying home and not voting for him. Lots of chaos, possibly even worse than in our timeline.

This. The Trump base wouldn't be nearly as enthusiastic to back Pence, and they'd be very upset over Trump's death. The idea that Pence would somehow win is laughable. Rather I think even some hardcore Trump supporters would realize how bad COVID19 is, so either Pence would become more pro-mask and pro-lockdown or lose even more massively.