2000 United States presidential election

The 2000 United States presidential election was held on November 7th, 2000. President Joshua Cruz was term-limited, and cannot run for a third full term in the office.

Vice President Mark Calhoun was viewed as the frontrunner for 2000 for the majority of the decade - however, the environment shifted strongly against Cruz and the GOP after the 1998 midterm elections in the wake of a Democratic landslide, and this allowed for John Major, former Speaker to be tossed around more. Senator Elizabeth Harris and Governor Bob Jones were tossed around as names for the Democrats.

Before the FEC allowed sign ups to begin, seven had formed exploratory committees. Out of these, only four made it to the primaries - Senator Elizabeth Harris for the Democrats, and Vice President Michael Schultz, Vice President Mark Calhoun, and Speaker John Major for the Republicans.

Two Republicans selected running mates before the primaries, Schultz selecting Senator Kelly Loeffler and Major selecting Clayton Brown. Loeffler was only the second female Vice Presidential nominee, after Donna Beneviento. Harris became the third woman to be nominated by a major party for President, after Eleanor Aquitaine of the Loonies and fellow New Democrat Katie Layne Collins. Interestingly, Harris was appointed to the Senate by Aquitaine and is known to be a close friend of Layne Collins.

The general election consisted of Harris and Schultz after an incredibly contentious fight that resulted in Schultz's nomination being finalized just one minute before the ballot was released.

Harris won the election in the biggest opposed landslide in American history, winning 98.88% of the electoral votes, ousting Franklin D. Roosevelt's 98.49%. She also became the first woman elected President of the United States, and was the second President of the United States from Sequoia.

Michael Schultz would give a speech after the election conceding, but blamed the loss on "infighting", calling the election a "fluke" and vowing that he would run in 2004.

Summary
Six notable candidates formed exploratory committees in the early stages: Bush, Loeffler, Major, Calhoun, Schultz, and Maddow. Maddow and Bush would later announce that they would not run, with Loeffler dropping out before the primary

Incumbent President Joshua Cruz was term limited, and the primary was expected to be competitive. The first poll showed that Major had a large lead, with Schultz in second and Calhoun in third. In the next poll, Major's vote dipped heavily, though his lead remained, and Loeffler became the runner-up. However, Loeffler dropped out before the final poll was done, and that showed a tie between Schultz and Major, with Calhoun decisively last.

Declined

 * Diana Maddow, Senate Majority Leader (1993–present)
 * Giles Hackett, U.S. Representative (1995–1997)
 * Edric Blight, former Governor of Bluegrass (1993–1997)
 * Hibiki Rioux, U.S. Senator from Bluegrass (1998–present)
 * George W. Bush, Governor of Bluegrass (1997–present) (running for re-election)
 * Clayton Brown, former Governor of Sequoia (1994–1999) (selected as running mate of Major)
 * Betty Weaver, former U.S. Senator
 * Laura Ingraham, Fox News personality
 * Iron Smith, perennial candidate
 * Donald Trump, U.S. Senator from Montclair (1997–present)

Results
The vote for nominee tied in September 2000.

Aftermath of the tie in the convention
After the convention came to a perfect three-way tie, the Republicans had no nominee. No candidates were willing to pledge their votes, however Vice President Calhoun dropped out roughly seven minutes before the ballot was released, and Speaker Major dropped out less than a minute prior. After this, Michael Schultz became the nominee by default.

Declined

 * Linda Strode, Speaker of the House (1997–present) (running for re-election)
 * Katie Layne Collins, U.S. Senator from Montclair (1989–1996) (running for U.S. Senate)
 * Barack Obama, Governor of Sequoia (1999–present)
 * Orca, Senate Minority Leader (1999–present)
 * Bob Jones, Governor of Montclair (1977–present) (selected as running mate of Harris)