United States of Almeria 684 Elections

The **Almerian elections of 684** were held on Tuesday, November 4, 684, and featured executive, legislative and gubernatorial elections. It was the 192nd quadrennial election for President and Vice President. The elections signaled a mixed result, with the Blue Party winning control of both chambers of Congress and gaining governorships but Blue Party President Reginald Jasper losing reelection narrowly.

## 172nd Quadrennial Presidential Election

### Blue Party

* Reginald Jasper, 105th President of the United States
* Kyle Knight, Vice President of the United States

### Labor Party

* Charlie Bower, Governor of Maine
* Jane Spindleton, Nebraska Senator

### New Red Party

* Thomas Kale, Governor of Ontario
* Josh Spell, South Carolina Senator

## Election

### Primary Selections and Nominations

President Reginald Jasper entered into the reelection campaign with a 57% approval rating but the public was showing signs of fatigue with the Blue Party in the White House. The President was easily renominated, while the New Red Party went with a renegade pick, choosing a Lanvidan for their ticket for the first time ever. Amidst polls showing them significantly ahead of the New Red Party as the largest opposition, the newfound Labor Party held a presidential primary, the first in over a century, which Marxist Populist Charlie Bower, the Governor of Maine, won easily.

### Campaign and Issues

At the beginning of the campaign polls consistently showed Almerians were happy with the status quo, with the national polling aggregate putting President Jasper at a comfortable seven point lead over Governor Bower. But shortly into the campaign the Imperialist government of Belfron declared war on Meerden, the first massive war since the East-West War had ended a decade ago. Amid growing skepticism of self-proclaimed New Imperialist politicians and Governor Bower's explicit pledge to not bring Almeria into war, President Jasper's polling lead collapsed and nothing he could do could raise it. Another wildcard in the election was the nation's shifting partisan demographics, with the South increasingly becoming safe territory for the Blue Party and Midwest, West and Northeast shifting quickly into stalwarts for the Labor Party. Lanvida was largely segmented, with the Labor Party putting up incredible polling margins in rural areas due to its support for Lanvidan independence, the traditionally conservative suburbs landed squarely in the Blue Party's camp. In a strange outlier, Quebec remained the only safe New Red state in the nation, due to its historical support of General Dexter Edwards, a former New Red presidential nominee. Ontaria was now the largest populated state in the nation, almost double California, and polling showed the Labor Party with a decent lead.

### Results

Early in the night, the Northeast flipped dramatically from the Blue Party column to the Labor Party, while the Southeast came out strongly for the President. This lead President Jasper to take an early 4 point lead in the national popular vote. The Labor Party was able to win the Midwest and the West, including the crucial state of California, but the Blue Party's margins were so large in the South that the entire mainland Almeria ended up in the President's camp by 1.8 points. This meant that in order to win the election Governor Bower would have to win Lanvida by four points or over. As the night turned to morning the election remained too close to call, with Lanvidan returns cutting President Jasper's margin down from 1.8 to 0.9. The final state to report in was also largest state in the nation, Ontario, and it delivered an impressive 9 point victory for the Labor Party, giving Governor Bower the Lanvidan popular vote by 6.5 points and the national popular vote by 0.9 points. This was the first election in which the national popular vote winner of mainland Almeria was not elected president under the new system.

The stunning loss for President Jasper produced a number of long term political effects. The Blue Party immediately attacked the President-Elect as not representing mainland Almerians, who felt shocked that an enemy of a recent war was able to choose the current president. This had the effect of further cementing the Blue Party as the default party of native Almerians, while Lanvidans increasingly saw these attacks as indicative that the Labor Party represented their cause. 68% of New Red Party voters claimed they would have voted for the President as their second choice, which would have put the final tally at 52.1%-47.9% for the Blue Party. This caused the Blue Party and New Red Party to form tighter ties in their congressional alliance, and to support electoral reform that would create a runoff system. Within a month of the election native Almerians overwhelmingly disapproved of the incoming president, including many who voted for him as the perceptions of Lanvidan favoritism grew.

## Elections for the 343rd Congress

### House of Representatives

**Purple Alliance | 245 (-26)**

Blue Party | 191 (-23)

New Red Party | 54 (-3)

**Labor Party | 190 (+26)**

***Popular Vote: Labor Party 46.2%, Blue Party 41.4%, New Red Party 12.4%***

***Result: Blue Party Hold***

### Senate

**Purple Alliance | 90 (-9)**

Blue Party | 72 (-6)

New Red Party | 18 (-3)

**Labor Party | 36 (+9)**

***Result: Blue Party Hold***

### Results

For the first time ever the Labor Party won a plurality in the House popular vote, but the gerrymandering administered for the Blue Party under President Moore kept the house comfortably in the hands of the newfound Purple Alliance. The Labor Party also swept nine seats in the Senate, but the Blue Party's super majority there was too large to crack in one election. The popular vote margin of 4.8 points for the Labor Party was the worst popular vote defeat of the Blue Party in the House since sixteen years ago in the election of 668. Still, the Blue Party's hold over Congress remained ironclad.

## 684 Gubernatorial Elections

### National Governors Association

Blue Party | 39 (+3)

New Red Party | 13 (-3)

Labor Party | 11 (+0)

### Results

Fifteen states held their gubernatorial elections in 684 across the Southwest and Southeast. Despite the headway the Labor Party was making nationwide, their nominees were easily defeated in every state except for Colorado, where incumbent governor Brady Keen won reelection by four points. With the New Red Party declining nationally the Blue Party had several viable targets in the Southeast, flipping races in Tennessee and Mississippi where the incumbent was term limited, as well as defeating the incumbent conservative governor in North Carolina. The New Red Party was able to hold onto its traditional governorships in Utah, Florida, Alabama and South Carolina, but all four seats were in for competitive races. Labor Party governor Michael O'Dourne won reelection in Louisiana, continuing as the only southern Labor Party leader for another eight years.