Rules & scoring

Draft your candidates. Let the campaigns do the work.

2028 leagueSee historical scores
Scoring at a glance Milestones & all eight bonuses

Only qualifying events after the draft score. Select a rule for its full conditions and caps.

Article I

Six candidates

One roster for the whole campaign.

  • Six candidates per manager: at least two Democrats and two Republicans, with two flex spots for either party. With four managers, that means 24 picks.
  • Exclusive ownership: a candidate belongs to one manager. All six score automatically; your total is their combined points.
  • The candidate pool is open. The candidate board is a starting list. You can draft someone before they announce, including a nonpolitician or an off-list pick. The commissioner confirms eligibility for the office sought, Democratic or Republican classification, and home state before nomination; resolve ambiguous cases before draft night where possible. Party and home state freeze at auction start; later approvals are recorded before use. Only qualifying activity in those two parties scores.
  • Drafting someone earns nothing by itself. They score only for qualifying events after the draft, such as polling milestones, a campaign launch, or a VP nomination. They may finish with zero.
  • Scoring starts when the draft ends. Earlier events do not score. Candidates will be selected in an auction.
  • Points stay earned. Withdrawal does not erase points, and a candidate can still earn later vote, endorsement, convention, or VP points.
How the auction works

Each manager starts with 100 credits. Nominations rotate in lobby order, skipping full rosters. Nominating a candidate places an opening bid of 1 credit. Use the minimum-bid button or enter a higher whole-credit amount; each bid is an explicit commitment.

The opening clock is 30 seconds. Each accepted bid leaves at least 15 seconds on the clock. When time expires, the highest bidder receives the candidate and pays their bid. Ties go to the first bid accepted by the server.

Keep at least 1 credit for each remaining roster spot, and enough room for two candidates from each party. Unspent credits do not earn points. The commissioner can pause proceedings and make recorded corrections. The separate practice room has no effect on league rosters or scores.

One optional replacement window

The window is scheduled for noon Eastern, 30 calendar days before the first qualifying 2028 contest. The commissioner publishes the actual date from the official calendar. Each manager gets one fixed 24-hour turn in reverse roster-points order (side games do not affect priority), using reviewed scores through the preceding day. Ties are randomized once. If opening is delayed, everyone still gets a full turn.

Replace at most one candidate who has not launched or has withdrawn, using the unowned approved pool. Keep six candidates and at least two from each party. No credits are needed. Pass or miss your deadline to keep your roster. A submitted selection reserves the incoming candidate while the commissioner verifies eligibility.

Ownership changes only at recorded acceptance. Keep the outgoing candidate’s prior points; the replacement earns only subsequent points. Caps, win tiers and once-per-cycle bonuses do not restart. After your turn, no further selection is allowed; a timely pending request can still be accepted.

Article II

The road to the White House.

Real milestones carry the score. Caps keep one long primary sweep in proportion.

Official campaign launch+10
Once per cycle, after a public presidential announcement and a verified FEC candidacy filing. An exploratory committee alone does not qualify.
Primary debate appearances+5 each · max 15
Participate in a party-sanctioned presidential primary debate. Three appearances reach the cap. Forums, town halls, and interviews do not count.
National polling milestones+5 at 3%, 10%, 20%
Each threshold needs two qualifying national polls from different approved pollsters within 30 days. Each threshold scores once; maximum 15. Pollsters and eligible electorates must be agreed before the draft.
Which polls qualify?

Approved organizations: YouGov, Ipsos, SSRS, Morning Consult, Marist, Quinnipiac, Emerson College Polling, Focaldata. Different media partners using the same pollster still count as one organization.

Use national first-choice nomination polls with the normal full field and at least 300 actual respondents in the relevant party subgroup. Eligible respondents are registered party voters (including leaners) or likely primary voters; use the likely-primary result when both are published. All-adult samples, head-to-head matchups, campaign-sponsored polls and modeled estimates do not qualify.

Both polls must begin after scoring starts for your candidate. Their fieldwork end dates must be within 30 days, inclusive, and both must be published. Use the published percentage without rounding up. The second release establishes the achievement. A missing candidate is not a zero. Any pollster-list expansion must be announced before new qualifying fieldwork starts.

Primary & caucus votes1 per 100,000 · max 50
Count qualifying popular votes, including votes received after withdrawal. Fractional points accumulate across the cycle, rounded to one decimal. Five million votes reach the cap.
Preliminary counts & corrections

Official preliminary primary vote totals may score and are labeled provisional. Final totals can change those points through a visible correction. Contest wins and all contest bonuses wait for final official results.

Only actual popular-vote counts earn vote points. Delegate totals and delegate equivalents are never converted into votes.

Nominating contest wins+8 → +4 → +1
First five wins: 8 each. Next five: 4 each. Every win thereafter: 1. One scoring contest per party and jurisdiction, including DC, territories, and recognized overseas contests.

The early wins earn more points. Here’s the total at each stage:

8pts / 1 win40pts / 5 wins60pts / 10 wins70pts / 20 wins90pts / 40 wins
How contest results are counted

One delegate-selection contest and result metric are registered per party and jurisdiction before voting. Use official popular votes; for realignment caucuses, final-alignment headcounts, then first-alignment headcounts if necessary. If only delegates or delegate equivalents exist, those determine wins and percentage bonuses, but earn no popular-vote points.

All valid preferences, including uncommitted, enter the denominator. An exact first-place tie gives each tied candidate a win and no close-win bonus. Canceled contests, automatic endorsements without counts and separate nonbinding votes do not score.

Presidential nomination+60
Become the party’s official presidential nominee. Clinching delegates or becoming the presumptive nominee is not enough.
Vice-presidential nomination+30
Become the party’s official vice-presidential nominee. A primary candidate announcing a running mate does not qualify.
General-election debate+5 once
Participate in a qualifying presidential or vice-presidential general-election debate, including one held before the conventions. Maximum 5 per candidate.
Elected president+60
Win the presidency through the official election outcome. Electoral votes are not scored separately.
Elected vice president+20
Win the vice presidency. These points belong to the running mate’s manager.

Article III

Special provisions.

Each bonus scores once per candidate; different bonuses stack.

First Application+5
Launch a first-ever presidential campaign. Previous runs in any party count; a prior exploratory committee alone does not.
Outside Hire+10
Launch a presidential campaign having never held elected public office or a federal or state Cabinet-level position.
Actual Constituency+10
Reach at least 15% in a qualifying primary or caucus for the first time. Use the contest’s preselected result metric.
Hostile Takeover+5
Win the home-state nominating contest of another rostered, still-active candidate from the same party. Home states are frozen before the draft; award this bonus only once per candidate.
Margin of Clerical Error+5
Win a qualifying contest outright by less than one percentage point over second place, using the preselected result metric. A tie does not qualify.
Suspended Animation+5
Receive at least 1% in a qualifying contest held after publicly suspending or ending the campaign. Early ballots may count; the contest date controls.
Orderly Transfer of Ambition+5
Publicly endorse the eventual nominee of the candidate’s own party before its convention begins. The endorsement must still stand at nomination; self-endorsements do not count.
The Commission Still Recognizes You+5
Deliver a scheduled speech on the official party convention program after ending a presidential campaign. Presidential and vice-presidential nominees are excluded.

A hypothetical long shot

A first-time outsider launches: 10 for the campaign launch + 5 for First Application + 10 for Outside Hire = 25 points. They then attend two debates (10), clear the 3% polling threshold (5), earn 500,000 votes (5), and reach 15% in one contest (10).

55 points. No wins required.

Side games

Make your calls.

Up to 80 points alongside your roster.

Five main games offer 40 points: Exploratory Committee (6), Primary Confidence Pool (12 across two rounds), Veepstakes (10 across both parties), On the Record (4), and Election Night (8).

Twelve campaign rounds offer up to 4 points each. Only your best 10 count, for another 40. Equal round scores use earlier round order for display. All results remain visible.

League standings combine roster and side-game points. Equal totals share a position. The replacement window uses roster points alone.

Entries, deadlines & results

Scored games begin after the live auction. All managers receive identical questions and can make identical picks, regardless of candidate ownership. Complete and save a card before its deadline; only server-confirmed saves count. You can edit saved picks until lock. Picks stay private until the deadline, then are revealed to league managers.

Entry windows normally last seven days and never less than 72 hours. Questions, points and deadlines freeze once a round opens. No late entries or backdated locks. Missing entries earn zero. Canceled, ambiguous, or already-known outcomes before lock are void for everyone; points are not redistributed. The 80 points are a ceiling, and voids may reduce what is available.

The commissioner reviews sourced results before publication. Corrections preserve the audit history and recalculate the best 10, including changes to previously counted rounds. Election results wait for final official outcomes. Each round specifies its exact sources, observation window and tie policy.

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How would this have played out?

Explore the 1976–2024 records