The 2370 Presidential Election

The 2370 Federated States Presidential election was a major election. It was the eighth full election.

## Background

After the Third Terran Civil War and the disaster of the JS1E1 attack on Earth, the people of the Federated States were tired, frightened and wanting stability. They were also deeply worried about the recession, the second one in the last 20 years.

President Pave Shenker (Federalist) announced in February of 2370 that he would not be seeking a second term as President and would not seek or accept the Federalist nomination.

Senator Marius Axxelson (TPE) was seen by most as the front-runner thanks to his huge personal popularity.

## Candidates

The Federalist Party got behind the presumptive nominee, Vice President Cris Manolos the former mining exec and Governor. He unified the two wings of the Party by asking retiring Senator Leander Beaufort, a liberal, to be his running mate. At the Federalist convention there were rumors of a challenge from the floor by Governor Reston Groome but this was put down and a deal for unity was made.

The TPE nominated Senator Axxelson. He initially wanted the former Secretary of Defence Crait Valon as his running mate but Valon turned this offer down, stating he was too old. Senator Axxelson then turned to Governor Kayla Attwater, a former fleet officer as his running mate. MIles Swofford Jr, who had rightly developed a reputation as a tough political operator, was named campaign manager.

The newly formed Foundation Party nominated Governor Jan Bolmar for President. The moderate Governor chose highly conservative former Mayor Rocky Thornberg as his running mate to unify the two wings of the Party.

The New Horizon Party nominated veteran Senator and lawyer Javier Morgan for President. Most polls showed them lagging badly behind the other three candidates.

Former Secretary of State Reese Gordwood also launched an insurgent independent campaign, calling on the other parties to back him for President. Despite having a huge amount of personal experience and expertise, most felt his candidacy would never get anywhere.

## Presidential Debate

The campaign had gotten underway with deals being made that saw Governor Bolmar drop out and endorse Senator Axxelson. The Progressive Union and VANGUARD both shocked the political establishment by agreeing to back Secretary Gordwood.

The Axxelson campaign suggested a Presidential debate and invited Vice President Manolos and Secretary Gordwood to attend. Senator Morgan protested being left out but they pointed to his anemic polling numbers.

Going into the debate, Vice President Manolos played down his chances, pointing to the fact that as a Governor he'd never taken part in a serious Senate debate and he pointed to Axxelson's huge advantage.

However in the debate Manolos emerged the clear winner, though he was unable to land a serious blow on Axxelson. Most respondents pointed out Manolos's charisma, plain-spoken answers and his willingness to listen to ideas. His critics pointed out that he had answered the fewest direct questions of the night

The real loser,however, was Gordwood who came across as fussy, short of clarity and to have no clear plan on the economy. Gordwood's polling, which has been impressive, began to level out

## The First Ballot

Going into the first ballot, a huge amount of money had been raised by the Axxelson campaign, with the corporations backing him with a massive A$4.5B warchest. As the polls began to close, most pundits believed that there were would be an Axxelson landslide and question marks were asked if this would also carry the TPE to a big Senate win too.

1. Axxelson / Attwater (TPE) - 52%
2. Gordwood / Yates (IND) -21%
3. Manolos / Beaufort (FED) - 20%
4. Morgan / Boreham (NH) -9%

Therefore there would be no second ballot and Senator Axxelson had won the election. Vice President Manolos gave a gracious concession speech and urged the political spectrum to work with the new President

The 2370 campaign.saw nearly A$4 billion spent, though nearly all of this by the Axxelson campaign. There was very little negative campaigning or adverts by either campaign. The Core-worlds voted for the TPE, the first time they had not supported the Federalist Party since the 2335 campaign.

## The Senate Elections

There was far less money spent in the senate elections, with VANGUARD actually raising and spending the most money. The Federalist campaign was well organized by Holloway McNeil but the campaign largely focused on trying to win new ground on the Frontier and was widely considered to be a strategic mis-step

The TPE saw its turnout and support hugely boosted by Senator Axxelson's huge personal appeal. A large number of voters voted TPE for the first time ever in 2370 and exit polls pointed to his record on corruption as well as his personal experience.

Whilst the newly formed Foundation Party finished second overall, its share of the vote was lower than when it was two separate parties (AIS & Earth-Guard).

The Federalists had finished third in both the Senate and the Presidential campaign, their worst result for years.

The small Integrity & Justice Party was wiped out too, losing all of its Senators. However the New Horizon Party appeared to be major beneficiaries of the outlawing of the Universal Party, picking up a huge number of new Senators, especially on the Frontier.

## The New Administration

The Axxelson administration took office amidst complex coalition talks between the TPE and Foundation. Initially Governor Jan Bolmar had been mooted for Prime Minister but he felt that as he lacked any relationship with the Senate, he may struggle to get the agenda passed. Therefore Senator Gallow Knightley was named as Prime Minister

Former Treasury Secretary Mads Farrell (TPE) took up a new role as Secretary of State. Major donor and corporate whiz-kid Davis Malone Jr (TPE) was named as Treasury Secretary. The Foundation Party, in addition to the office of Prime Minister, also took up Secretary of Defence (Hailee Jander) and Attorney General (Tilly Valane-Warwick).

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