The United States presidential election of 2080 was the first presidential election since 2064 which saw a candidate achieve a majority in the electoral college in the first round, making a second round unnecessary. Incumbent National President Donna Harlan White declined to run for a second term, publicly citing that she had accomplished all of her goals in her first term in office. However, it is believed that Harlan White declined to run or reelection due to the great strain the campaign had put on her and her personal life--she was a bachelorette and the first openly gay American to be elected president, and it was widely rumored that she was a xenophile and that she and tsukagi actress Nina Hawaka were involved in a relationship. Senator Benjamin G. Thurman of the Great Lakes Commonwealth, a protege of four-term President Douglas Grayson, ran against token opposition to win the National nomination for President, choosing Senator Thaddeus Mercer of Dixie as his running mate.
The Republican nomination was a hotly contested three-way race between Premier Sarah Winstead of Pacifica, Governor Elijah V. Crosby of Ticonderoga and former Governor Collin Cameron of Spirit. Winstead was the favorite of the party's moderate, isolationist establishment, Crosby was a known liberal and supporter of civil rights and expansionism while Cameron was the leader of the party's emerging segregationist wing. Winstead managed to edge out both Crosby and Cameron, but the nasty primaries saw the party split. Crosby declined to run for President as an independent; his Liberty's Empire PAC would endorse National, Populist and Green candidates (including Thurman for President). Many of Crosby's supporters formed the Union Republican Party and endorsed Populist candidate Clay Onizuka for President. In the end, the Republican platform was particularly silent on the matter of civil rights. Premier Winstead selected Governor Mike Hillman of Florida as her running mate.
Governor Cameron left the Republican Party to join the Constitution Party. Beginning in the 70s, the Constitution Party became sharply divided between traditional paleoconservatives and segregationists like Cameron. Cameron energized the party's segregationists, and he managed to capture the party's nomination for President, tabbing former Representative April Chandler of New South Yukon (who finished second in the primaries after Cameron) as his running mate--the alliteration of Cameron, Chandler and Constitution was noted and sometimes mocked. Former Representative Clay Onizuka of Sponsov was nominated by the Populist Party for a second time, who ran with former Republican Commonwealth Representative Albert Hass of Roosevelt. The field for the Green Party's nomination was rather weak since Prime Minister Jordyn Blythe of Arkansas declined to run for a third time. Former Minister of Natural Resources Helen Cobb managed to win the nomination, selecting Commonwealth Senator Vince Bowe of Florida as her running mate. Garret Wallace, the Secretary-Treasurer of the United Auto Workers, was nominated for a second time by the Democratic Party, selecting Mayor Hannah Martinez of Phoenix as his running mate.
Foreign policy was one of the major issues of the campaign, as the wars in Cydonia and the Jovian moons were continuing to escalate. Thurman, Onizuka and Cobb (who was criticized by some in her party) argued for continued support of the wars, arguing that America could not afford to lose those territories. Winstead and Cameron called for an end to imperialist wars, and for a slow retraction of the "American colonial empire". Onizuka was critical of the administration's handling of natives and aliens, urging for cooperation and partnership. Cameron ran on a predominately segregationist, isolationist platform.
In the end, Thurman would win a majority in the Electoral College but a plurality in the popular vote. He was the strongest on Luna, Venus and the coastal states of the Terran states. Winstead drew most of her support from the Terran interior and also from the Martian states. The 2080 election saw Republican support on Pallas and the Outer Planets collapse completely as those areas swung heavily towards the Cameron and the Constitution Party. Green and Democratic support was also noted in the same regions as Thurman, often running second and third behind him. In many of Outer Planet states, it would be Cameron and Onizuka running in first and second ahead of Thurman and Winstead. The Constitution Party had its best showing in any election, both in terms of the Electoral College and the Popular Vote. Pundits believed that the Republican split allowed Thurman to win a majority in the Electoral College, despite receiving a similar percentage of the popular vote as Harlan White did in 2076.