2024 Election Game (Gameplay Thread)

[Zenobiyl]

With a Winter full of jockeying for campaign position behind everyone, the 2020 Presidential Campaign begins in earnest as May dawns.

On the Republican side, former President Donald Trump faces Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Vermont Governor Phil Scott. Trump holds the lead, but combined, DeSantis Scott outpoll him nationally, and in key primary states, showing that the Republican Party is starting to move on from the controversial Trump years.

Republican Party-National

Donald Trump 36%
Ron DeSantis 26%
Phil Scott 11%

Republican Party-Iowa

Donald Trump 35%
Ron DeSantis 27%
Phil Scott 8%

Republican Party-New Hampshire

Donald Trump 27%
Ron DeSantis 23%
Phil Scott 16%

Republican Party-South Carolina

Donald Trump 34%
Ron DeSantis 29%
Phil Scott 6%

Republican Party-Nevada

Donald Trump 33%
Ron DeSantis 21%
Phil Scott 9%

Republican Party-Louisiana

Donald Trump 35%
Ron DeSantis 27%
Phil Scott 12%

On the Democratic side, Vice President Kamala Harris is the nominal frontrunner, but she faces several challengers. Two stand out at this early date. New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who survived a scandal involving her handpicked Lieutenant Governor to easily defeat Lee Zeldin, and Senator Tammy Baldwin, who is the lone progressive running. Also in the race is North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, who is expected to compete with Harris in the South, especially in South Carolina.

Democrats-National

Kamala Harris 30%
Tammy Baldwin 20%
Kathy Hochul 20%
Roy Cooper 13%

Democrats-Iowa

Tammy Baldwin 25%
Kamala Harris 24%
Kathy Hochul 17%
Roy Cooper 13%

Democrats-New Hampshire

Kamala Harris 33%
Kathy Hochul 25%
Tammy Baldwin 16%
Roy Cooper 11%

Democrats-Nevada

Kamala Harris 37%
Kathy Hochul 18%
Roy Cooper 16%
Tammy Baldwin 13%

Democrats-South Carolina

Roy Cooper 21%
Kamala Harris 20%
Kathy Hochul 20%
Tammy Baldwin 14%

Democrats-Louisiana

Kamala Harris 24%
Roy Cooper 21%
Kathy Hochul 19%
Tammy Baldwin 15%

General Election

Generic R 46%
Generic D 45%

The 2023 Off-Year elections are in full swing. In Mississippi, the incumbent Tate Reeves will face Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley, in what is seen as a likely hold for the Republicans.

For the two Democratic held Governor's mansions in Louisiana and Kentucky, Democrats face a difficult road to holding both. In Louisiana, where the incumbent, John Bel Edwards in term-limited, Democrats have rallied around former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu. However three strong Republicans are running, in Attorney General Jeff Landry, Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser and former Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne.

In Kentucky, the incumbent, Andy Beshear may have dodged a bullet when Attorney General Daniel Cameron declined to run, but he will face Auditor Mike Harmon in the general election in a deeply Republican state.   

Mississippi Governor

Tate Reeves (R) 55%
Brandon Presley (D) 36%

Louisiana Governor

Jeff Landry (R) 31%
Mitch Landrieu (D) 24%
Billy Nungesser (R) 24%
Jay Dardenne (R) 13%

Kentucky-Governor

Mike Harmon (R) 48%
Andy Beshear (D) 47%

News

Finland, Sweden officially join NATO

Dianne Feinstein dead at 89 of a stroke

London Breed appointed to replace Dianne Feinstein in United States Senate.


This turn will take place from May 1, 2023 until May 29, 2023. There are no debates this turn (at least that I am moderating, though you may challenge each other to debates and I will be more than willing to moderate them). You are required to post either a schedule or some other method of explaining what your candidate is doing.

Good luck.

You should change the title so people don’t get confused.

[Zenobiyl]

May 1st-29th (12 events)

May 2nd: Ron DeSantis organizes a major rally in Miami to kick off his campaign. He invites Matt Gaetz, Ronna McDaniel, and William Barr. DeSantis touches on the major culture war issues, attacks Joe Biden and the Democratic Party, and reveals his intentions for running against Donald Trump. Excerpts from the speech are found below.

Donald Trump created a political revolution, and I have great admiration and respect for his achievements for this country. The sad truth, however, is that since 2020 he has surrounded himself with swamp people who are giving him terrible advice. It was these RINO advisors that duped Trump into endorsing Dr. Oz in 2022, who blew an easily winnable senate race in a red tsunami year. It was these same advisors who tricked him into betraying America First conservative Mo Brooks, and other good patriotic Republicans. We cannot afford to lose any more elections, because Joe Biden is hell bent on destroying this country with his policies. I’m running against Donald Trump because he’s lost his way, and I believe we need a different candidate to ensure a strong Republican governing majority this November! Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado I am announcing my campaign to be the next Republican President of the United States. And let me tell you folks: we won’t just Make America Great Again, we will Make America Florida!


May 3rd: Ron DeSantis barnstorms in Iowa, meeting voters and building a local campaign infrastructure. He also meets with Mariannette Miller-Meeks for an endorsement.

May 5th: Ron DeSantis heads over to New Hampshire to meet with Chris Sununu, and request his endorsement as well.

May 7th: Ron DeSantis spends some of the millions he had stockpiled from his landslide governor election win on advertising in Iowa portraying him as a family man and strong leader for conservative values.

May 10th: Ron DeSantis runs ad campaigns across South Carolina touting his Parental Education Rights bill, billing himself as the defender of the rights of American parents.

May 12th: Ron DeSantis courts the anti-vaxxer vote in Nevada, sending out push-polls asking voters: “If you knew that Donald Trump took the Biden vaccine and wants you to take it too, would that make you more or less likely to vote for him in November?”

May 13th: Ron DeSantis announces at a campaign rally in Iowa that “not a single dime of taxpayer money will go to Planned Parenthood under my administration, and we will shut their clinics down state by state!” (Assuming Roe is dead by now in this timeline.)

May 19th: Ron DeSantis attends a CPAC conference in Budapest, with Viktor Orban as the keynote speaker. DeSantis praises Orban for his standing up for border security and culturally conservative values.

May 23rd: Ron DeSantis meets with Glenn Youngkin for an endorsement, and praises his strong conservative record as opposed to other blue state republicans.

May 24th: Ron DeSantis meets with Ted Cruz to request an endorsement, privately bringing up Trump’s electability issues, his past blunders in meddling with the midterms, and his insufficient conservatism on a variety of issues.

May 25th: Ron DeSantis meets with Ken Griffin and Peter Thiel to request their financial support, mentioning his better prospects of winning in November and promising a big fat tax cut.

May 28th: Ron DeSantis does some more campaigning in New Hampshire, running ads promising lower gas prices and an end to rampant inflation.