2018 United States of Quentin Presidential Election
The 2018 United States of Quentin Presidential Election was the 46th quadrennial election to determine the next President of the United States of Quentin. Held on December 7th, 2017, the election saw incumbent Mild RePublican Kyle Lovestington reelected to his third and final term as President. Lovestington defeated Fundamentalist candidate and Bureaucrat Shubham Gupta of the Multi-Logan State, as well as Environmentalist candidate and Governor of the Grassland Area Thomas Kenoye. Though unofficial, each candidate also chose a GTNEC candidate as their running mate. Lovestington retained Steve Shamji, the incumbent GTNEC, as his running mate, while Gupta selected Alexa Holcomb as his running mate and Governor Kenoye selected Mason Pete-Cox as his.
The 2018 presidential election process began in 2016, with President Lovestington announcing his intention late that year to run for a third term after candidates declared themselves across all three parties that same year. The Mild RePublican nomination was contested more than Lovestington's second campaign, however it ended on March 15th, 2017 with the Mild RePublican primaries confirming Lovestington as the party's nomination for the third straight election. Lovestington's main rival, Governor Rajesh Muduganti, won only 25% of the primary vote. The Fundamentalist primaries were much more contested, with Bureaucrat Gupta barely defeating challengers including Kristie Biller and Tim Follingworth, though Follingworth dropped out of the race before its completion due to Gupta's lead. Finally, the Environmentalist primaries were also held on March 15th, and saw Governor Kenoye victorious over a diverse field of candidates including Dean Thomas and Xavier Ravenson. The conventions of the respective parties, held in May, finalized and made official the results of the primary elections.
Campaigning and major issues contested in the 2018 election were broad, with focus on the recent ratification of the 24th Constitutional amendment, which reinstated the death penalty, the stance of the country on the independence of Rullabellon and the overall interventionism of the country, as well as financial issues including overall taxes, drug and substance taxes, and military spending. The personal history of candidate Shubham Gupta was heavily discussed and debated, with many reports of Gupta's aggressive and temperamental leadership in the House of Bureaucrats surfacing and being capitalized on by his two opponents, though mainly by Governor Kenoye. Numerous analysts agreed Lovestington's neutrality and avoidance of Gupta's past issues during the debates as a partial factor in his victory, as each debate increased Lovestington's poll ratings greatly. Additional topics of contention included infrastructure and energy debates, with Kenoye promoting vast and fast reforms in both sectors, while Lovestington supported a more moderate approach. Gupta largely ran on a platform of inter-party cooperation, which was widely unsuccessful in execution but was adopted by Alexa Holcomb in the 2022 election to greater effect.
On election day, December 7th, 2017, incumbent Lovestington was able to win a large victory
