Matthew Santos, The West Wing
In The West Wing’s fictional 2006 Presidential election, Matthew Santos (Jimmy Smits) is up against Republican opponent Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda) after duking it out against multiple Democratic nominees. Santos was not polling well, though managed to grab more support by promising not to run a negative campaign2. He was able to win more primaries after his competition, John Hoynes (Tim Matheson), suspended his campaign due to inappropriate sexual advances and astonishingly won the DNC’s support after an inspirational speech. On election night Santos’ pick for vice president is found dead, leaving him wondering what that means for his candidacy.