Matchup between you and the preceding poster.

[Mr. Smith]

L.D. Smith (D-TX): 268 EV, 50.1% PV
RFayette (R-CA): 271 EV, 47.9% PV

It started off as a friendly enough competition, but things got heated quickly. Both championed populist causes and had a religious flare to them. This worked to the advantage of RFayette's base, but scared away a bit of the vote from my base, especially from the more "centrist" wing. However, I did manage to carry a lot of crossover votes from one part of the region no analyst thought possible: The Mountain West. Unfortunately, this came at the cost of much of The South, though some say that this was less to do with me and more to do with RFayette's evangelism.

The campaign was mostly friendly between candidates, probably because neither wanted to invoke "The Carpetbagger" insult.

The night started off with me in the lead bigly, but once The South started dumping, the situation looked dire (especially when Virginia didn't flip at 92% precincts in)...and then, I took most of The Rust Belt, which was negated by a YUGE dump in The Plains and Upper Midwest (RIP Wisconsin),...oh but The West helped me out, with Montana barely being a majority, Idaho being only the 60's, Utah kept to high 50's, and most suprisingly, Arizona!

Ultimately, there was one state to decide it all, one state that did not care for evangelism or extremism too much, but was also not a friend to Democrats by default....ALASKA, which actually had a local third party that ended up splitting the right.

Closest States

Virginia
Arizona
Wisconsin
Alaska
New Hampshire



EDIT: PART TWO

But I try again, in spite of a recount controversy in Virginia. Supporters claim I did an amazing job with The West, all of it, just on principle alone. But the leery establishment weren't buying it, after losing Virginia and erasing any trends in North Carolina, I was persona non-grata. But I went on.

Enter another representative from Austin, Kamala, who was bizarrely enough, more moderate.

But Kamala also had less baggage and some old roots in The Plains area, so while Iowa was close thanks to my spirited, but hopeless work, NH was a rout! I did manage to swing back Nevada...but I got my clock cleaned after Super Tuesday.

But danggit, I won the PV last time! By a majority! I wasn't going down so easily. That said, besides a few protest votes in The Mountain West, Appalachia, and Rust Belt, the rest went to Kamala quite easily.

[Mr. Smith]

Gov. Oldiesfreak1854 (R-MI)/Sen. John Thune (R-SD): 319 EV (52% PV)
Sen. MormDem (D-CA)/Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA): 219 EV (46% PV)

Closest States
Colorado
Nevada
New Hampshire
North Carolina
Minnesota

After years of division under Obama and Trump, the nation finally comes to its senses and nominates two mainstream, "establishment" candidates to represent both major parties.  I make a few gaffes in the primaries which, coupled with MormDem's more moderate positions on some issues, peel off a small number of Southern votes, but not enough to flip any states.  I campaign on a platform that focuses primarily on economic issues: taxes, spending, etc., while spending little time on divisive social issues.  MormDem's Mormonism helps him squeak out a win in Nevada, the closest state of the election.  Though I try to make inroads in the Northeast, MormDem undercuts these efforts by attacking my religious affiliations to imply that I am anti-Catholic.  Meanwhile, I attack him as a standard tax and spend liberal while positioning myself as a conciliatory conservative, emphasizing my own proposals for immigration and healthcare reform alongside my conservative credentials on taxes, national security, and law and order.  Most importantly, I highlight my proposals for paid family leave and a renewed ERA push, which helps deflate Democrats attacks on me as "anti-woman."  Polls remain too close to callfor most of the campaign, with several lead changes back and forth, but on Election Day my efforts to put together a coalition of moderates and conservatives pays off, giving me a narrow but satisfying victory. 

You were supposed to make a map where you lose, not win.

-skip-

[Mr. Smith]

L.D. Smith (D-TX) 248 EV, 48.3% pv
The Saint (R-FL) 290 EV, 47.8% pv

The battle is one of left-populism vs centre-right moderation, things were looking good for me, until lots of dark money poured in against me in favor of the kind-mouthed "Saintly"  Saint...oh well. It was enough for the Philly Burbs to turn out like its 1988 again and overrule the gains I made in Erie or Wilkes-Barre [mostly 'cuz I didn't flip Chester Co.], enough to lose NH the same way Al Gore did and Hillary almost did, and Virginia, where DLC enthusiasm was low and Neocon enthusiasm in areas like VA Beach was high.

Not even retaining IA, WI, or MI was enough.

Closest States

Iowa
Pennsylvania
Virginia
Michigan
New Hampshire

[Mr. Smith]

Saguaro
L.D. Smith

A split of many running people from the Establishment allows me to gain prominence, and I probably would've pulled through, if not for the fact that this same Establishment hate allowed an actual independent room to grow, and worse (for me), his positions were much more agreeable with the primary voters.

I do however hold off for a little bit by winning bigly on Super Tuesday after a loss in Iowa, New Hampshire, and a narrow loss in California.

But I still didn't win Texas, which kept my opponent in the ring long enough for the battle to keep going, until eventually I lost The West...besides a few Mormon pockets which gave a crossover vote.