(please note that this isn't a projection for the midterms and is just the background to the game I have in my mind, so take these with a grain of salt realistically)
2018 Midterm Election Results (Senate):Republicans: 56 (+5)Democrats: 44Individual Results
ArizonaKrysten Sinema: 54.3% (DEM Gain)Martha McSally: 43.5%Eve Reyes Aguirre: 2.2%CaliforniaDiane Feinstein: 59.8%Kevin De Leon: 40.2%ConnecticutChris Murphy: 60.7%Matthew Corey: 39.3%DelawareTom Carper: 64.3%Robert ArlettFloridaRick Scott: 52.6% (GOP Gain)Bill Nelson: 47.4%HawaiiMazie Hirono: 73.4%Ron Curtis: 16.4%Arturo Reyes: 10.2%IndianaMike Braun: 51.2% (GOP Gain)Joe Donnelly: 48.8%MaineAngus King: 58.3%Eric Brakey: 30.6%Zak Ringelstein: 11.1%MarylandBen Cardin: 51.8%Neal Simon: 31.1%Tony Campbell: 17.1%MassachusettsElizabeth Warren: 63.2%Geoff Diehl: 36.8%MichiganJohn James: 50.9% (GOP Gain)Debbie Stabenow: 49.1%MinnesotaAmy Klobuchar: 62.8%Jim Newberger: 37.2%Minnesota (Special [Represented by Iowa])Tina Smith: 52.5%Karin Housely: 47.5%MississippiRoger Wicker: 54.3%David Baria: 32.6%Danny Bedwell: 10.3%Shawn O'Hara: 4.8%Mississippi (Special [Represented by Alabama])Cindy Hyde-Smith: 39.3%Mike Espy: 30.8%Chris McDaniel: 22.5%Tobey Bartee: 7.4%Mississippi (Special [Represented by Alabama]) Run-OffCindy Hyde-Smith: 55.4%Mike Espy: 44.6%MissouriJosh Hawley: 54.8% (GOP Gain)Claire McCaskil: 45.2%MontanaJon Tester: 47.2%Matthew Rosendale: 46.6%Rick Breckenridge: 6.2%NebraskaDeb Fishcer: 66.1%Jane Raybould: 33.9%NevadaJacky Rosen: 47.5% (DEM Gain)Dean Heller: 47.2%NotC: 5.3%New JerseyBob Hugin: 40.3% (GOP Gain)Bob Menendez: 40.2%Murray Sabrin: 12.2%Madelyn Hoffman: 7.3%New MexicoMartin Heinrich: 46.3%Gary Johnson: 37.5%Mark Rich: 16.1%New YorkKirsten Gilibrand: 68.2%Chele Chiavacci Farley: 31.8%North DakotaKevin Cramer: 56.7% (GOP Gain)Heidi Heitkamp: 43.3%OhioSherrod Brown: 59.2%Jim Renacci: 40.8%PennsylvaniaBob Casey Jr: 57.4%Lou Barletta: 42.6%Rhode IslandSheldon Whitehouse: 75.7%Robert Flanders: 24.3%TennesseeMarsha Blackburn: 53.2%Phil Bredesen: 46.8%TexasTed Cruz: 53.9%Beto O'Roruke: 46.1%UtahMitt Romney: 67.8%Jenny Wilson: 32.2%VermontBernie Sanders: 78.9%Lawrence Zupan: 21.1%VirginiaTim Kaine: 62.6%Corey Stewart: 37.4%WashingtonMaria Cantwell: 64.7%Susan Hutchison: 35.3%West VirginiaJoe Manchin: 60.2%Patrick Morrisey: 39.8%WisconsinLeah Vukmir: 50.4%Tammy Baldwin: 46.6%WyomingJohn Barrasso: 74.2%Gary Trauner: 25.8%Governors MapRepublicans: 34 (+1)Democrats: 16(Placeholder to add in Governor Results Later)
HouseRepublicans: 221Democrats: 214 (+21)The 2018 Midterm Elections were not a Blue Wave in the Senate and Governor Elections, as the Republicans gained 5 Seats in the Senate and the composition in the Governor Mansions was changed with the addition of Alaska to the Republican Column. In the House, the democrats were only 4 seats short of taking back a majority, meaning that the once mighty Blue Wave crashed into a sturdy Red Wall. The cause for this is a whole number of reasons, from the discovery of scandals and corruption (such as in the case of Bob Menendez) to recent events, such as the recent Migrant Caravan that the Democratic Party wanted to be protected until it was dispersed through military means (using only Rubber Bullets to make sure no one was killed) to President Trump's second meeting with Kim Jong Un 4 days before Election Night on November 2nd, in which an official Peace Treaty was signed and an allowing of investigators to watch the end of North Korea's Nuclear Program, to the activity of Democratic Activist groups, such as ANTIFA (the GOP using ANTIFA attacks on several Ads and several independent news outlets, such as Tim Pool, covering such attacks) and the embracing of Far-Left positions, which saw many Moderate Americans afraid of them.
The day after the election, Bob Mueller came out with his full report detailing that he was ending the Russia Investigation and no one inside the immediate Cabinet, including the President himself, was guilty of treason, announcing that the Investigation was over and done with. Following this news, Trump's Approval hit 50%, the highest point in his Presidency and it's likely to rise to at least 53% before stabilizing there. In the days following the Election, Vice President Mike Pence announced that he would not want to be on the ticket in 2020 if/when Trump is renominated, stating "
While it has been an honor to serve these last 4 years as Vice President, the attacks on me and my family have been too much and I can't serve you any longer. However, until the day the next Vice President is inaugurated, I will gladly serve as your Vice President and campaign with the President until Election Day determines who the victor is."
The Democrats, however, were in shambles, having put everything into their Blue Wave to show that their ideas were more popular than the Republicans. Instead, they had lost 5 Seats in the Senate and were just short of retaking the House. Immediately, a vote was held and Ohio Representative Tim Ryan became the new House Minority Leader. Ryan has proposed that it was time to end the pandering to the Progressive and Far Left and instead stated it was time to get to the ground level and start working with people again.
Then broke a major Scandal on November 18th when a Gay Man from New Jersey revealed that Senator Cory Booker had sexually assaulted him several years back. He had revealed this earlier in October on his twitter but he was convinced to come forward and he had Security Video evidence of the ordeal. The footage was leaked publicly and it showed that yes, the Senator did Sexually Assault. the man. Following this, Senator Booker resigned on February 3rd and Governor Murphy placed Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver in the Seat, declaring a Special Election to be held on November 5th. The 2020 Senate Elections have also been amazed has several standing candidates have all announced they will not run for another term.
2020 Senate Elections MapRepublican Incumbent RunningRepublican Incumbent RetiringIncumbent's Intent Unknown (will know after 2019 Special Election)Democratic Incumbent RetiringDemocratic Incumbent Running With America's future now under question and with the Democrats rebounding after the recent scandals of 2018 and early 2019, the question now is, who will control America's Future for the next 4 years
Republican Candidates:
President Donald J. Trump (R-NY) - alancia
Former Governor John Kasich (R-OH) - terp40hitch
Senator Bob Hugin (R-NJ)
Among Others (Message Me)Democratic Candidates:
Former Vice President Joe Biden (D-DE) - NOTTYLER
Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT)
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Senator Kirsten Gilibrand (D-NY)
Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) - Sherrod Brown 2020
Former Governor John Hickenlooper (D-CO)
Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY)
Lawyer Micheal Avenatti (D-CA) - nerd73
Former Representative John Delaney (D-MD)
Mr. Jason Kander (D-MO) - Ishan
Governor Steve Bullock (D-MT) - Democrats for Knute Buehler
Among Others (Message Me)Green Party Candidates:
Zephyr Teachout (G-NY) - katman46
Among Others (Message Me)Independent Candidates:
Mr. Austin Peterson (I-MO) - x-guy
Among Others (Message Me)
RULES:
(of which I stole from HCP, who stole from Wxtransit, who may or may not have stolen from Lumine's game, thanks, Lumine, wxtransit, and HCP)
This game will cover the 2020 US Presidential Election from October 1st, 2019 to November 3rd, 2020, divided into three main phases:
Primary Phase: Assuming campaign announcements to have come earlier in the year, this primary season will take us from October 2019 to August 2020, with players from the Democratic and Republican Parties fighting to emerge as the front-runner or even the nominee of their respective parties.
Convention Phase: Both main parties will enter this phase to decide on their eventual nominee. Considering at this point in time, all Conventions were brokered, a Candidate will only have to win Delegates here to get the Nomination, so you will have to battle for every state's delegates and bargain to the Nomination.
General Election Phase: Taking us from August 28th to November 3rd, 2020, with eight turns of a week to account for the final stage of the campaign as players play the Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates, and potentially some key surrogates for their campaigns.
2.- The in-game length of turns will vary from days to an entire month depending on the circumstances, but all turns will last 5 days/120 Hours in RL. Duly informing of a turn absence will yield no penalty (a polling freeze or very limited loss), but simply not posting will bring consequences.
3.- Personal message me for endorsements! No candidate may recieve more than 2 per turn, and there are some special endorsements that will be reserved for key events or dates (for example, New Hampshire or Iowa Governors, or relevant newspapers like the Des Moines Register or the New Hampshire Union Leader).
4.- There will be Debates between Both Parties to accumulate for the possible high number of Debates in the OTL Election in a few years.
5.- Like other games, I will use a number randomizer to determine positive and negative news for the candidates. 1-5 will be positive experiences (1 being great news) and 95-100 will be negative experiences (100 being terrible news). 6-94 will be no news. Real life news will also feature as part of the game for players to exploit (or influence).
6.- Third Party candidates are allowed to join, but their respective gameplay will be focused on the General Election.
7 - If your candidate is not included in the provided list below, make sure to personal message me so that I can approve/reject the candidate. Please make your candidates realistic (they must be real people who would plausibly seek the nomination in 2020, if you don't know if they could work, just ask).
8. Have fun.
Before you ask, no, Troubling Times isn't dead, this is a Placeholder for the future. The last 2020 Election game died and sadly no one could see it to the end, despite everyone's performance. This is for those who still feel a little upset it ended. If there is enough popular Demand, I'll give a two week extended turn for TT so everyone can get started. This isn't based on realism in terms of the 2018 Midterm results or what happened next, this is a thought experiment. Anyways, feel free to sign up and be very patient. I needed to put this idea down before I forget that way everyone can play it eventually once I'm ready to launch it. Hope to see you join. :)
