2046 United States Presidential Election

The 2046 United States presidential election was the 23rd biennial Presidential Election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 2046. Liberal candidate James P. Kennedy, the Governor of Massachusetts and eldest son of Joe Kennedy III, won the election, defeating incumbent Conservative President Olympia J. Snowe of Maine. It was the first ever election that was an exact rematch of the previous election. It was also the first election where an exact rematch saw a change in President.

Incumbent Olympia Snow faced no opposition in being re-nominated by the conservative party. Governor Kennedy was the initial favorite for the liberal nomination. He faced opposition from Senator Russell P. Long of Louisiana and from Progressive Representative, Keith Ellison of Minnesota. He remained the front-runner throughout the campaign. However by the convention Kennedy had not yet acquired the requisite 75,001 Delegates. However he prevailed on the second ballot of the convention with ease. He selected Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer as his running mate. President Snowe retained Vice President Tim Scott of South Carolina as her running mate.

Both major-party candidates focused primarily on domestic issues, such as the economy, the recession of mid-2046 and the ongoing farm crisis. Early in the election season owing to a strong economy and a well ran campaign Snowe had large leads over Kennedy nationally. Snowe touted her domestic achievements such as her withdrawal from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the low rates of inflation and unemployment. She also promised a broad campaign of de-regulation to end the farm crisis. While Kennedy attacked her on her failure to deal with the Southwestern Water Supply Crisis and her lack of progress in the Mars space race. While Snowe lead in polling during the first few months of the campaign, a economic downturn and the failure of the New Apollo rocket in July lead to her slipping in the polls. In addition to these controversies her poor performance at the August debates lead to Kennedy taking the lead and holding it for the remainder of the race. Only a few days before the election, a supposed tape of Kennedy insulting Snowe's appearance in private was leaked by the New York Post. This hurt Kennedy by several points in polls and hurt him in particular with female voters. However only a few weeks after the election the tape was revealed to have been faked and the New York Post issued a formal retraction.

On election day despite the controversies surrounding the tape, Kennedy narrowly defeated his opponent in a close election. The results of the election were not confirmed until major news networks called Iowa and Pennsylvania for Kennedy early on the morning of the 8th. Snowe conceded the election the next day. Kennedy very narrowly won the popular vote by 0.33%. The electoral college was not as close as Kennedy won there by 17.33%. The state of Idaho attracted some controversy as initial numbers had President Snowe winning by 53 votes, however after a statewide hand recount the numbers actually showed Kennedy winning by 764 votes. Due to how little Idaho's four electoral votes would matter in the final vote, Snowe declined to challenge the results. Kennedy did well on the coasts, the Midwest and the plains states. Kennedy became the first liberal to win North Dakota, Idaho, Nebraska and Utah. Kennedy also became the first Liberal to be elected since the election of 2038. Olympia Snowe became the first incumbent President to lose re-election in fourteen years. This election was the fourth-closest election in United States history.