2023 Robloxian ministerial election

The 2023 Robloxian ministerial election was the 17th ministerial election that took place on September 9th, 2023. Republican incumbent, Alex Parkland, successfully ran for re-election to a second, consecutive term after defeating former Hasher governor Harold Bentsen in the general election.
== Results ==
Parkland defeated Bentsen in all states except the Native Islands and Hasher, where he narrowly lost Hasher by just a few thousand votes. Parkland won Crote by a little over 5%, Zech by 56%, and the Ian Cox Islands by 34%. There were a total of 109,542,873 voters, with over 1 million more compared to 2022. Former representative and Democrat Jason Sinema ran in the 2023 election again, even though he lost the 2022 election with only 3.8% of the vote.
2023 Robloxian ministerial election
Nominee 	Alex Parkland 	Harold Bentsen	Jason Sinema
Party 	Republican 	Democratic 	Independent
Popular vote 	54,783,211 	52,974,104 	1,785,558
Percentage 	50.0% 	48.3% 	1.6%
Running mate 	Alan Wahlberg 	Garret Polan 	Alyssa Winfrey
States carried	3 (CR, IX, ZE)	2 (HA, NI) 	0
== Primary election and candidates ==
=== Democratic Party ===
Democrat and former two-term Hasher governor Harold Bentsen became the party's frontrunning candidate after Representative and former Speaker of the House Roland Manchester announced candidacy. Manchester gained significant ground in party polling, and held a steady yet narrow lead over Bentsen in Democratic primary polling throughout the beginning of 2023, but this steadily declined as the months went on and Bentsen grew in polls. Former minister Natalie O'Brien declined seeking candidacy in 2023, stating that she "does not believe in rematches". Senator Alice Wilimina additionally announced candidacy, but suspended her campaign in April. She still gained a significant amount of votes, even though she had dropped out. Entrepreneur Yuri Slovastia announced candidacy, but had under 5% in polls.
==== Primary Election ====
The Democratic Primary election for minister in 2023 was held from May 21, 2023 to May 31, 2023. There was a total of 26,668,349 voters in the Democratic primary, an over 3 million increase compared to the previous year.
2023 Democratic Primary Elections
Name 	Harold Bentsen 	Roland Manchester	Alice Wilimina 	Yuri Slovastia
Home state 	Hasher 	Hasher 	Native Islands 	Crote
Popular vote	15,592,900 	7,245,556 	2,877,789 	952,104
Percentage 	58.4% 	27.1% 	10.7% 	3.5%
Running mate	Wasn't announced 	Wasn't announced 	Wasn't announced	Ian Montrose
Notes 	Former Hasher governor	Former Speaker of
the House	Representative from
the Native Islands	Entrepreneur
After an unsuccessful attempt in becoming the Democratic nominee in the preceding 2022 Robloxian ministerial election, Harold Bentsen tried one more time in 2023 and became the winner, defeating major opponent Roland Manchester by around 8.5 million votes. Alice Wilimina, who had suspended her campaign a month before the primaries, amassed 10.7% of the vote, the most a dropout Democratic primary candidate has ever received since the Democratic primaries preceding the 2014 Robloxian ministerial election.
Harold Bentsen ran on a moderate Democrat campaign, which is why Manchester won the social-Democrat demographic by over 70%. Bentsen expressed support for the vast majority of Democratic issues and values in the 2023 campaign, but denounced abortion in his campaign. Many voters in exit polls resorted to the more progressive Roland Manchester or Yuri Slovastia. Alice Wilimina won the votes of mainly Native Islands voters, but additionally won the votes of moderate Democrats who opposed Harold Bentsen during his tenure as Hasher's governor.
=== Republican Party ===
Incumbent minister Alex Parkland announced a candidacy for re-election as minister in early 2023, stating that "his time is not done" and that "there is much more to do". Parkland ran on a bolstered version of his previous 2022 campaign, encouraging gun rights, restricted abortion access, and limited government. He brought in new conservative policies on the 2023 campaign trail, including combatting the opioid crisis, promoting election integrity, and establishing business innovation. Parkland was opposed by former Crote governor Ebony Harris in the primary, who gained significant ground after many moderate Republicans disapproved of Parkland's agenda.
Former minister Jamie Waiters, who had previously lost the Republican primary in the 2022 election to Parkland, announced candidacy again. He had way less support in 2023 than he did in 2022. There were a total of 37,307,516 voters in the primary, a decrease since 2022.
2023 Republican Primary Elections
Name 	Alex Parkland 	Ebony Harris 	Jamie Waiters
Home state 	Crote 	Crote 	Zech
Popular vote	26,842,144 	9,411,003 	1,054,369
Percentage 	71.9% 	25.2% 	2.8%
Running mate	Alan Wahlberg 	Wasn't announced 	Miko Friedman
Notes 	Incumbent minister	Former Crote governor	Former minister
The incumbent minister emerged victorious in the primary, winning 71.9% of the vote. In the 2022 primary, he had won 67.6% of the vote, so this primary is a 4.3% increase. Parkland carried Zech and Ian Cox Islands GOP voters narrowly, but won over Hasher, Native Islands, and Crote GOP voters in a landslide.