2590 Republic Election

The 2590 Federal Republic Election was the 9th election for the Republic. It was a contentious election and the last before the 2594 Constitution was formally adopted.

Overview

The Terran Republic was founded with the promise of an elected lower chamber, the General Assembly and a partially elected upper chamber, the Senate. In addition, the General Assembly would then elect the new President
The Republic had 20 member worlds at the start of 2550, each holding elections for its seats in the both chambers.

Parties

There were a large range of political parties standing the election, including several parties which were standing on just one world. The major political parties were:

• Gurava (GUR) -a left wing radical party with a strong pacifist and environmentalist message. Gurava preach that the Republic should be a place of learning and peace
• Social Democratic Party SDP) -a centre-left party that proposes a “Big tent” left wing platform of state intervention and the construction of a welfare state. The SDP has attempted to portray itself as the "natural progressive party of government".
• Republican Centrist Party (RCP) - a moderate to centre-left party that has generally taken a Federalist tone. Originally very pro corporate, it clashed heavily ithe Hansa head of the 2590 elections.
• Onyx (ONX) -the newest major party in the Republic, Onyx were formed after a merger between Vishnu Elpis and Valiant to form a centre-right, somewhat religously minded party.
• Fortress (FOR) -a populist somewhat cosnervative party formed by Henrik Tremlow. The party espoused a neeed for "major changes" in the Republic. It was well funded by the Hansa.
• Ravenheart (RHC) - a conservative Valtinist Party with a strong anti-AI platform. Expected to do well on Nova Terra but perhaps not elsewhere.
• Isolationist Party ISO) -A conservative party that propose that the new Republic remain out of foreign policy entanglements. Favors the creation of a strong military

In addition, the Anarchist Movement (ANA) fielded candidates and stood in the election for the General Assembly.

JOINT LISTS

During the 2590 cycle, only one joint list was agreed as Fortress and Ravenheart, both portraying themselves as "insurgent party's" formed a joint list.
The arrangement proved to be tricky for both and Fortress, as a more moderate party, distanced themselves from Ravenheart at times.

Campaign Finance Rules

The Republic banned parties with no "vested interest" in the Republic from raising and donating money for political parties. The Emergency Delegates sent before the election set up a campaign finance board (RCFB) which was given broad oversight powers.
New tougher laws on campaign finance had been passed during the Noah Averssen administration which gave the Attorney General more powers to deal with campaign finance violations.
The regulations introduced in by the Isolationist Party made it illegal for parties, including corporations outside the Republic to donate to the campaign. It also set a limit of 4 billion adjusted dollars per campaign in the General Assembly and 2 billion at a planetary level.
In 2559, Vishnu Elpis introduced a new campaign finance law that would limit total spending during a ten year term to five billion adjusted dollars. This was voted through the General Assembly and then subject to a legal challenge on behalf of Valiant.
The legal challenge saw the bill referred to the Senate, which was then delayed by filibusters and procedural road-blocks to prevent the bill from becoming law in time for the 2560 election.

General Assembly

Each member world would be assigned seats in the General Assembly based around its population, with proportional representation then deciding how the seats would be allocated. A party required a minimum of 5% of the planet's vote to be considered for a seat, any votes to parties with fewer than 5% would then be discounted.
AS the General Assembly appeared the most powerful chamber and has the power to elect the President, most political pundits expected the General Assembly election to be the most competitive election.

Senate

As of 2530, all Senate seats in the Republic were democratically elected, though new member worlds retained the constitutional option to make one of them appointed
Lightning Point had consistently exercised the right and named one senator out of the two in each cycle.

President

The President of the Republic is elected by the General Assembly, with a candidate requiring a majority of the votes in the assembly to be confirmed.
President Alana Largo had confirmed she would not seek another term in 2590.

Candidates

• Vice President Brawyne Swayne (SDP). The former reacher, GA Rep and then Vice President was thought to be more progressive than President Largo.
• Rep Piper Najimy (GUR) A hugely popular and telegenic former journalist, Rep Najimy was the darling of the radical left and hugely popular with students.
• Senator Mathers Giury (RCP) A former prosecutor from St Lawrence, Senator Giury was considered to be on the left flank of the RCP and he had clashed with the Hansa during the 2585-2590 period.
• Governor Mina Carrero   (ONX) -a former marine officer and one term Governor of Avalon.  Known for her role a a tough, crime fighting Governor on Avalon.
• Senator Hayse Dutton (ISO) the former lawyer and son of Roddick Dutton, Hayse Dutton was considered a slick, pro business conservative.
• Governor Grayson Moreno (FOR). A former mining exec turned two term Governor of Fort Kurzon. He left Valiant to go Independent and then was recruited to run for President by Fortress.
• Senator Tarco Tumnas (RHC). A former soldier and one-term Senator, Tarco Tumnas became the first Jaradino to be on the ballot for a major party.
• Senator Voshon Graham (IND). Former lawyer who had been elected to the senate on a Valiant ticket and then gone Independent after the Valiant / Isolationist clashes. Ran for president as a centre-left moderate independent.

The Campaign

The 2590 campaign was largely dominated by the issues around the seperatist crisis and the impending constitutional convention.

Formation of Onyx

At the start of the campaign, it appeared that Vishnu Elpis and Valiant would both be on the ballot, with Rep Naisell Kufts (VE) nominated for President. However, with the defection of prominent VE donor Princess Annastacia Valane to Valiant, Vishnu Elpis appeared to fall apart as its more moderate members defected en-masse to form a new party, merging with Valiant to form Onyx.
Vishnu Elpis limped on for a short while, even stating that they would run for the 2590 election before merging in with the SDP and ending Vishu Elpis as a Republican political party.

Difficulties in the SDP Campaign

Vice President Swayne struggled inititlally with her campaign, as reports stating that the Largo administration had been aware of the risks of the Snow Plague dogged her campaign. There was also reports of infighting and amateur errors made by her senior staff. Vice President Swayne eventually replaced much of her senior staff to get her campaign back on track.

The Republic V Reiner Grumman

Attorney General Madeline Cruz (ISO) pressed ahead with her prosecution of Reiner Grumman for espionage. There were accusaations that this was being done for political reasons and that it was designed to hit Onyx, whom the Grumman family were associated with.
Reiner Grumman was later convicted of espionage. Grover Grumman was later arrested for his alleged involvement in the Sondeheim Coup but he was later acquitted due "to a lack of evidence".

The Corvo Leak

Governor Tiberius Corvo (ISO), running mate to Senator Hayse Dutton, was subject to a highly damanging leak that suggested that he had backed "extra judicial responses" to deal with the Sondeheim coup. Whilst these comments chimed well with his supporters and social conservatives, it was broadly unpopular with the electorate and hurt the Isolationist Party tiket in 2590.

Your Turn?

A series of damaging campaign adverts were broadcast on various markets which appeared to suggest that it was "deeply unfair" that a Jaradino was in line to be President before an Indirian. This campaign advert drew a lot of attention and later proved to have done damage to the Ravenheart campaign.
The advert was initiall not attributed to any party but later it was found to have been funded by the Isolationist Party, though Senator Hayse Dutton cliamed to have known nothing about it.

Senator Giury Scandals

During the campaign, Senator Giury was attacked extensively as Lynxx media and other conservative media channels focused on his broken relationship with his wife, which was later revealed to be a "sham marriage", with the two having not lived together for years. They also focused in on an affair that the Senator had whilst he was a prosecutor. This did considerable damage to the Giury campaign and was largely attriubuted to the Hansa trying to bring him and the RCP down.

Corvo Removed from the Ballot

During the closing stages of the campaign, Governor Tiberius Corvo (ISO) stated he would not be accepting the post of Vice President and that if Senator Dutton was named President, then he would not accept the office of Vice President. Due to the way the Federal election laws work, once a candidate is on the ballot and the filing deadline has passed, they cannot be removed.
Some pollsters suggested that this move may have reduced the damage done after Corvo's leak regarding the "extra judicial meaures."

The Debates

The 1st Debate

The first debates, hosted in Athens, cantered on the economy and questions ranged from tax policy to whether the economy needed to be centrally managed. Senator Mathers Giury and Senator Hayse Dutton (ISO) did particularly well articulating differing messages. Senator Giury spoke about the need for aggressive reform that would “create a fairer market and prevent the Hansa from trying to bully governments.”
Senator Dutton took a more pro-Hansa viewpoint, saying that “working with the Hansa will create sustainable change and prevent jobs from being lost. We need an economy that provides jobs, innovation and wealth creation.”
Rep Piper Najimy (GUR) offered the most different answer to the others, calling for the largest corporations to be broken up and even suggesting that some critical industries should be nationalized. However, she was unable to answer where the money to do this would come from.

The 2nd Debate

The second debate, hosted from Houston, was focused on foreign policy. There were a number of off-duty Republic Marines in the audience and there was a rowdy atmosphere at first and Governor Carrerro received a warm round of applause and a full verse of “The Halls of Montezuma” from her fellow marines.
Governor Grayson Moreno (FOR) appeared to make the most headway with his answers here, articularting a clear vision of “Terran First” policies and “bold, decisive diplomacy”. Governor Moreno suggested that the Terrans of his administration would no longer be “the vassal state of an alien power, no matter which one we’re talking about.”
Senator Voshon Graham (IND) also offered a clear and attractive vision, suggesting instead that the Terrans “pick up the work of the old Federation and build lasting ties, not just military but societal and cultural with the likes of our CCN allies, the Gannid and the Vatu. Let’s build a new quadrant, not just a new Republic.”
Senator Dutton tried to put forward a vision for an Isolationist vision but his answers were often muddled and when pressed in a rebuttal from Vice President Swayne (SDP), he stumbled and contradicted himself.

The 3rd Debate

The third debate, from Dhaka, focused on the Constitutional Convention and the SWA. This was the fieriest debate, with some bitter and heated exchanges between Senator Tumnas (RHC) and Senator Giury (RCP), as well as a spat between Governor Carrero (ONX) and Rep Najimy (GUR).
Rep Piper Najimy (GUR) gave a passionate speech about the need for “a total rewrite of our constitution and a new world, where we devolve power to the worlds and have an overarching government that seeks to regulate trade, promote positive foreign policy and defence.”
Rep Najimy also spoke of the need to create greater cultural understanding between the worlds and that “a new government must not be the core-worlds talking down to the frontier, we must sell the benefits of coming together and end the endless, bitter recriminations of the old world.”
Senator Tumnas (RHC) was battered by many different candidates, pressed to answer whether he supported the aims of the SWA (Which he claimed he did) and whether he wanted the Republic to continue (which he claimed he did). He was held to account by Senator Giury who called for him to explain how “He can support the SWA and also support the Republic, you can’t be in both camps and not think that is a contradiction?”
Senator Tumnas appeared to have no answer and ended the debate looking ruffled and refused a handshake with Senator Giury.

The 4th Debate

The final debate was hosted from Cydonia and focused on security. However, many of the questions focused on the concept of “Threats to the Republic”. A broad array of threats were spoken of, ranging from civil war to the return of the Zzenddi and the last three questions all focused on a possible return of the Zzenddi.
Senator Dutton appeared to relish talking on this subject and hailed the heroic leadership of former Senator Morse Cutbill (ISO) and President Aston Groff (IND), a man that Dutton hailed as a “true patriot who laid down his life for the Republic and its people.”
He stressed the positives that came out during the Zzenddi war, innovation, bravery, honour and sacrifice. He gave eloquent answers too on the possibility of the Zzenddi returning and he suggested that “we cannot rule out their return, but our future should be a world where if they return, we are united, bold and decisive and able to defeat them.”
Governor Moreno (FOR) also took on the question and he was scathing in is criticism of the old “political class that saw fit to throw away the positive will from winning the war by publishing the devastating Dhaka papers. We have focused on what went wrong and how ill prepared we are, when what we should have done is learned from our mistakes and made reform and a new Republic, a better Republic, our first work. The previous order has failed, I believe that a new order will make us braver, safer and just better than we were. Our true selves.”
Senator Mathers Giury (RCP) suffered a rare unforced error during this question when pressed by Rep Najimy on the release of the Dhaka papers. He gave a rambling, nonsensical answer full of legalese rather than giving his opinion. This was seized upon by Senator Tumnas (RHC) who then just asked “Yes or no Senator, would you have released the Dhaka papers?”
Senator Giury then said “I can’t see the benefit of answering a hypothetical.”

Conclusions

: With the conclusion of the 2590 debates, most political pundits felt that there was no clear winner, with many of the candidates giving very rote and by the numbers answers and no knock out blow landed on any candidate. However, the consensus was that Vice President Swayne had given the safest and least interesting answers whilst Senator Tarco Tumnas (RHC) had suffered some damage during the debates, though nothing huge.
The winners were thought to be Governor Grayson Moreno (FOR) who impressed people with his decisive answers, his calm demeanour and his skewering criticism of the old regimes. Senator Hayse Dutton also impressed with his poise, precise language and his clear command of the facts. Many people also felt that Governor Mina Carrero (ONX) had also done well, with clear and candid answers, though she was not as eloquent as some of the others, she had outdone the expectation game and never ducked away from tricky questions.

The Results

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

In April of 2590, the results were confirmed:
2590 General Assembly

1. Ravenheart - (RHC) -20%
2. Onyx- (VAL) - 16%
3. Fortress - (FOR) -13%
4. Isolationist Party - (ISO) - 13%
5. Republican Centrist Party - (RCP) - 12%
6. Social Democratic Party -(SDP) - 11%
7. Gurava - (GUR) - 10%
8. Anarchist - (ANA) - 5%

THE SENATE

The 2590 senate saw a number of new senate seats introduced by new member worlds, all of which were competitive electoral battlegrounds.
The final result of the election was:

1. Onyx (ONX) - 14 (New party)
2. Social Democratic Party (SDP) -10 (Down 1)
3. Isolationist Party (ISO) - 9 (Down 4)
4. Gurava (GUR) -6 (Up 2)
5. Republican Centrist Party (RCP) -6 (Up 1)
6. Ravenheart (RHC) -6 (No change)
7. Independent (IND) -5 (Up 1)
8. Fortress (FOR) -4 (New party)
9. Tavann (TAV) -1 (New party)

Campaign Spending

Over 62 billion adjusted dollars were spent on advertising and campaigning during the 2590 election

Coalition Talks

Ravenheart finished with the most votes in the 2590 poll. Their initial talks involved fellow conservative party's (ISO, FOR and ONX). However, a last minute "voilt face" by the Isolationists, with claims they'd "never allow Tumnas to be President" saw Ravenheart unable to form a government.
So Onyx were able to get a coalition to form up behind Governor Mina Carrero who was elected President of the Republic.

The New Government

• Vice President - Estelle Bancroft (ONX)
• Attorney General -Solomon Montez (FOR)
• Secretary of Defence - Alana Ashwell (ISO)
• Foreign Secretary -Fletcher Navarro (ONX)
• Treasury Secretary -Percival Tiago (RHC)
• Interior Secretary - Jonas McKinnon (RHC)
• Intelligence Secretary - Dr Edwin Graves (IND)