Election Day Part II (originally aired April 9, 2006)
- Issues: election results, behind the scenes, death of a candidate
Leo's death rattles the final hours of Election Day and leads to some hard decisions. Santos ultimately refuses to name a new running mate and makes a statement about Leo's death. Santos and Vinick take their respective home states of Texas and California, leaving the election to be decided by Oregon and Nevada. Both candidates refuse to prepare legal challenges in the event that they lose. Finally, Matt Santos is declared the winner.
West Wing Election
Real-Life 2004 Election
Real-Life 2000 Election
Real-Life 1996 Election
Real-Life 1992 Election
- Election Results. Santos ended the election with 272 electoral votes and 23 states (and the District of Columbia), and Vinick had 266 electoral votes and 27 states. Most states went for Vinick or Santos as they went for Bush or Kerry in the 2004 election, with the following exceptions: California (55 electoral votes), Texas (34), Missouri (11), Arizona (10), South Carolina (8), Colorado (9), Nevada (5), New Mexico (5), Maine (4), and Vermont (3).
| State | Winner on WW | Winner in 2000 | Winner in 2004 | Electoral Votes
| | Alabama | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 9
| | Alaska | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 3
| | Arizona | Santos | Bush | Bush | 10
| | Arkansas | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 6
| | California | Vinick | Gore | Kerry | 55
| | Colorado | Santos | Bush | Bush | 9
| | Connecticut | Santos | Gore | Kerry | 7
| | Delaware | Santos | Gore | Kerry | 3
| | District of Columbia | Santos | Gore | Kerry | 3
| | Florida | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 27
| | Georgia | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 15
| | Hawaii | Santos | Gore | Kerry | 4
| | Idaho | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 4
| | Illinois | Santos | Gore | Kerry | 21
| | Indiana | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 11
| | Iowa | Vinick | Gore | Bush | 7
| | Kansas | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 6
| | Kentucky | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 8
| | Louisiana | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 9
| | Maine | Vinick | Gore | Kerry | 4
| | Maryland | Santos | Gore | Kerry | 10
| | Massachusetts | Santos | Gore | Kerry | 12
| | Michigan | Santos | Gore | Kerry | 17
| | Minnesota | Santos | Gore | Kerry | 10
| | Mississippi | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 6
| | Missouri | Santos | Bush | Bush | 11
| | Montana | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 3
| | Nebraska | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 5
| | Nevada | Santos | Bush | Bush | 5
| | New Hampshire | Santos | Bush | Kerry | 4
| | New Jersey | Santos | Gore | Kerry | 15
| | New Mexico | Santos | Gore | Bush | 5
| | New York | Santos | Gore | Kerry | 31
| | North Carolina | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 15
| | North Dakota | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 3
| | Ohio | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 20
| | Oklahoma | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 7
| | Oregon | Santos | Gore | Kerry | 7
| | Pennsylvania | Santos | Gore | Kerry | 21
| | Rhode Island | Santos | Gore | Kerry | 4
| | South Carolina | Santos | Bush | Bush | 8
| | South Dakota | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 3
| | Tennessee | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 11
| | Texas | Santos | Bush | Bush | 34
| | Utah | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 5
| | Vermont | Vinick | Gore | Kerry | 3
| | Virginia | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 13
| | Washington | Santos | Gore | Kerry | 11
| | West Virginia | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 5
| | Wisconsin | Santos | Gore | Kerry | 10
| | Wyoming | Vinick | Bush | Bush | 3
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- Behind the Scenes. The New York Times reported on April 10, 2006 that the show's producers originally intended for Vinick to win the election, but decided after John Spencer's death that it would be too sad to have Leo both die and lose the election. Article on-line here.
- Leo's Death. Regarding Leo's death, Democratic Party rules for the 2004 election (on-line here) dictated that in the event of the death of the party's presidential or vice-presidential candidate after the party convention, the Democratic National Committee was authorized to fill the vacancy.
Generally, each state has its own laws and procedures on how to deal with the relatively unusual situation where a candidate dies or withdraws from the race shortly before an election. Some states allow a candidate to be replaced on the ballot before the election, and some simply have procedures for replacing the candidate or holding special elections if the candidate is elected posthumously.
In California, for example, a vacancy created by the death of a congressional candidate more than 68 days before a general election can be replaced with another candidate. However, if the candidate dies less than 68 days before a general election, that candidate stays on the ballot and, were that candidate to win posthumously, the Governor would have to call a special election to be held within a few months.
This relatively unusual situation has come up three times in recent years. In 2000, Missouri Democrat Mel Carnahan, a former Governor and then-current Senate candidate, died in a small plane crash just weeks before the Senate election. In 2002, Rep. Patsy Mink (D-Hawaii) died of viral pneumonia on September 28 and Senator Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) died in another small plane crash on October 25.
Each situation was handled differently. In Missouri, Carnahan's name remained on the ballot, and he still was elected over incumbent Republican Senator John Ashcroft in part because Carnahan's widow publicly agreed to be appointed to her husband's post. In Hawaii, Mink's name stayed on the ballot and she won posthumously, which means that a special election will be held in January 2003 to see who will fill her term. In Minnesota, former Vice-President Walter Mondale agreed to fill Wellstone's place on the ballot but lost the election.
At least three dead people reportedly have been elected to the House. Democrats Clement Miller of California, Nick Begich of Alaska, and Hale Boggs of Louisiana were incumbents who died in plane crashes weeks before Election Day. Miller died before the 1962 election. Begich and Boggs were in a small plane that disappeared in Alaska in October 1972, and were both presumed dead.
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Daily Show: A 2004 study found that 21 percent of young people regularly get their campaign news from comedy shows like the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Saturday Night Live. So, some footnotes.
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By Stephen Lee
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