2020 United States elections (Atlantic Resolve)

The 2020 United States elections will be held Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Class 2 of the United States Senate, all seats of the House of Representatives, the Office of President of the United States, and several state governorships will be contested. Currently, President Ted Cruz is up for re-election, though there has been some speculation that President Cruz may abandon the Republican Party in favor of the Constitution Party.

Democratic Party
After a heavy defeat in 2020, many democrats have left for the Green Party as it along with several other third parties emerge as serious contenders to the Democratic Party. After the military blunder in World War 3, many of the candidates in the race such as Richard Ojeda and Mike Gravel have styled themselves as isolationists and have criticized what they have described as "the pro-war Democratic establishment". As of April, there are 4 major announced candidates for the Democratic Party, those being Richard Ojeda of West Virginia, former Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska (though Gravel has relocated to New York in order to run for President and is running with New York as his registered state), former nominee in the 1988 election Michael Dukakis though many believe he cannot gain the nomination as he lost to Bush in 1988, and former Senator from Minnesota Amy Kloubachar.

Republican Party
Cruz announcing that he will be running but not specifically saying with the Republican Party has lead to many primary challengers and Republican candidates entering the race. At the moment, there are three major candidates. These include former Massachusetts governor and the Libertarian Vice President nominee in 2016 Bill Weld, Son of President George H.W. Bush and brother of George Bush: Marvin Bush, and Maryland governor Larry Hogan. Several polls show Hogan leading the polls with Weld and Bush being close runner-ups. Many Believe that Marvin Bush cannot secure the Republican nomination much like his brother Jeb Bush failed to do in 2016 due to his brother George's presidency being remembered relatively negatively due to the Iraq War and 2008 Great Recession. With Cruz officially announcing on April 12th, 2019 that he would run with the Constitution Party rather than the Republicans, Hogan appears to be likely to gain the nomination.

Libertarian Party
With recent resurgence in the 2016 Presidential Election and the 2018 Midterms, the Libertarian Party now has a serious chance of winning the Presidency in 2020. As a result, many candidates have now entered the race in attempt to secure the nomination. At the moment, the two front runners are Congressman Justin Amash and political commentator Sam Seder.

Constitution Party
Presenting themselves as the alternative to the Republican Party and making gains in Congress, the Constitution Party's legitimacy as a political party has been increased with a few people going for the Party's nomination. At the moment, a few notable candidates include EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler and former 2016 Constitution Vice Presidential Candidate Scott Bradley. There was speculation that if President Cruz runs for the Constitution Party, he will gain the nomination. These speculations came true when Cruz announced his candidacy on April 12th, 2019. Opinion polls show that Cruz has been consistently polling higher than Andrew Wheeler (his runner-up) by over 25 points.

Green Party
After Sanders' successful campaign in 2016 which saw the Green Party win Vermont, New York, and other contests in the Northeast as well as success in Congress at the conclusion of the 2018 midterms, the Green Party is now one of the many third parties considered to possibly take the White House. At the moment, Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio leads the party with Businessman Andrew Yang following in close second after Yang had a popularity surge after appearing on the Joe Rogan podcast in February of 2019. The recent surge from progressives leaving the democratic party has caused Green Party majors such as Ajamu Baraka to fall in popularity as the new wave of democrats continue to shape the ideology and future of the Green Party. Some of the Green Party old guard like Baraka have been skeptical of the drastic shift, while other members of the old guard such as Jill Stein and Ralph Nader have welcomed the change as it boosts the standing of the party.

Minor Party Candidates
Outside of the 5 party system present in the United States, there are several minor parties worth noting which are also running candidates in the 2020 Presidential election.