2520 Republic Election

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The 2520 Legislative and Presidential elections were a major elections of the The Terran Republic

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, with former President Dahlia Avander-Slade was not seeking a second term
The Republic had six member worlds at the start of 2520, 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:

• People’s Emergent Party (PEP) -A Marxist party whose aims are to reduce the influence of the Hansa and to instil state ownership of the means of production
• 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 (SD) -a centre-left party that proposes a “Big tent” left wing platform of state intervention and the construction of a welfare state. The merger with the Federalist Party has made them slightly more in favour of centralization and more hawkish
• Centrist Coalition (CC) -a broad centrist coalition that supports capitalism, the rule of law and the creation of a military. Broadly pro Hansa
• Destiny Party (DES) -A pro Hansa, pro AI rights and pro technology party associated with Leander Ashpool and Dahlia Avander-Slade.
• The Valiant Terran Party (VT) -a newly formed Earther party with a conservative, pro military agenda
• Isolationist Party (ISP) -A newly formed conservative party that propose that the new Republic remain out of foreign policy entanglements. Favors the creation of a strong military.

The Justice and Peace Party, the Ravenheart Coalition and the Union of Libertarian Parties also intended to put candidates forward but none of these parties were expected to win any seats

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.

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

Each member world was assigned two senate seats, with one democratically elected and the other to be assigned out by the planet as they see fit. Fort Pitcairn and Van Allan's World both stated their intention to put the second seat up for election too. New Berlin later agreed to do the same

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.

Candidates

• Senator Hannah De Moy (Social Democrat)-the 65-year old former lecturer, writer and political activist was elected to the Republic's Senate in 2510 and was a key figure within the Social Democratic Party. She was one of the most visible opposition politicians and gained the support of the Social Democratic Party leadership.
• Keavett Creed (Centrist Coalition) - the 50-year old former corporate lawyer media personality and centrist political activist was a key legal adviser to President Sickles. A popular figure within his own party and a key fund-raiser, he was tagged as insubstantial but slick
• General Orval Wenham (Valiant Terran) the 70-year old former Legion General was elected to the Diet of Earth in 2510 and is a known conservative and opposed Earth's membership to the Republic.
• Secretary of Defence Kenzo Hiromi (Isolationist Party) the 45 year old former corporate exec was elected to the General Assembly and then later elevated to Secretary of Defence under President Avander-Slade and is strongly associated with the war on Nova Terra
• Dorsey Greyfort (Destiny Party) the 65-year old former business man from New Berlin was a known investor in high tech and donor to many moderate political parties. Was initially seeking elected office as an independent but was somewhat surprisingly nominated from the floor at the Destiny Party convention!
• Emma Dumfries (Independent) the 70-year old former lawyer, jurist and legal adviser to the Republic was a favorite of many liberals and a sometime critic of the war on Nova Terra.
• Dane Turing (Independent) the 55-year old former lecturer is a rabble rousing intellectual whose intense dislike of the Hansa has made him the darling of the radical left. No friend of the President or the Destiny Party

In addition to this list, former Admiral Melina De La Hoya was mentioned as a "draft" candidate, though she often stated she had no intention of seeking the Presidency.
There were also some sources that believed that former Secretary of Defence Leander Ashpool may seek the Presidency as an independent after being pushed aside by Greyfort for the Destiny Party nomination.

The Campaign

Ahead of the election, the first major deal was struck as the Federalist Party agreed to form a joint list, later upgraded to a full party merger with the Social Democrats under their banner, greatly boosting the Social Democratic Ticket.
Gurava formally endorsed Senator Hannah De Moy for President, giving her the support of most of the left-wing bloc.

The Avander-Slade Controversy

In March of 2520, former President Dahlia Avander-Slade, returned to Mars. This prompted a shocking press conference from Destiny Party founder Leander Ashpool
"People of the Republic, it is with a very heavy heart that I must inform you of corruption at the highest levels of our government. Former President Avander-Slade has betrayed the Republic, spreading corruption and mismanagement of the war on Nova Terra. Ordinarily this would be horrifying enough, but even worse she has revealed herself to be an agent of the Martian government and has now fled back to that world to hide from the justice she faces. I call on Dorsey Greyfort to end his campaign for President and for all members of the Destiny Party to cooperate fully with the Republic law enforcement as they trace just how far the filth of Martian corruption has spread. I am announcing my support for the Social Democrat candidate and hope to be able to form a coalition government with them after this election.
Mars delenda est,"
Lawyers on behalf of the former President denied the claims and the Senate Committee on the conduct of the war stated that, at this time, no formal charges had been made against her.
Dorsey Greyfort, nominee of the Destiny Party, did not withdraw his name from consideration but this caused considerable damage to the Destiny Party ticket, with rumors of a party-split.

The General Assembly

In April of 2520, the results of the General Assembly election came in (expressed in percentage of seats won):

• Social Democratic Party - 23%
• Isolationist Party -22%
• Gurava -14%
• Centrist Coalition -10%
• Destiny Party - 10%
• Valiant Terrans -9%
• Visnu Elpis - 7%
• People's Emergent Party -5%

Whilst this was hailed as a victory for the Social Democrats, there was some concern about the very strong performance of the Isolationist Ticket, with many exit polls on Earth showing that between the Isolationists and Valiant Terrans, they had won nearly 50% of Earth's vote.
This election saw the newly formed Vishnu Elpis Party elected, winning 7% of the seats and taking up a place in the already crowded centrist wing of the General Assembly.
This election saw the first combat veterans of the war on Nova Terra elected, with ten former marines elected to seats in the General Assembly.

The Senate

The Senate elections, generally not seen as important, were still expected to be a good night for the Social Democrats where the population count on each planet was not important.
Early exit polls suggested a huge night for the Social Democratic Party. Results are below (expressed in senate seats won):

• Social Democratic Party - 6
• Gurava - 2
• Independent -3
• Destiny Party -1

This gave a powerful working majority to the Social Democratic Party as Senator Noah Haemont, an independent, caucused with the Social Democratic Party.
A spokesman for the Centrist Party pointed to the foolishness of the system and that a world with a population of just five million gets to elect two Senators and a world with a population of over four billion gets the same.

• Karyn Handley - Social Democrat - Nova Terra
• Noah Haumont - Independent -Nova Terra
• Justus Markham -Social Democrat -Earth
• Irina Solokova -Social Democrat - Earth
• Davis Handley -Social Democrat -New Berlin
• Gunther Ross -Destiny -New Berlin
• Dr Gemma Mears - Social Democrat -Van Allen’s World
• Hobart Hulse -Gurava -Van Allen’s World
• Dr Hedges Morseby -Social Democrat (Federalist)- Fort Pitcairn
• Davina Appleton -Gurava -Fort Pitcairn
• Vee Blue - Independent -Celeste
• Tarnat 118 -Independent -Celeste

Campaign Finance

The 2520 campaign saw a total reported spending of 13.5 billion adjusted dollars, an increase by more than 5 billion adjusted dollars on 2520.
Major donors included:

• Allied West
• VENTRISS UDC
• Proteus KP
• LGD Gamma
• Ashpool Heavy Industries
• Civil Service Union of the Republic (CSUR)
• Teachers Union of the Republic (TSUR)
• Valtinist Churches
• The Church of the Ascension
• Major PAC Groups (as governed by the Republic Campaign Laws of 2502)

There were also a number of major private donors. The huge amount spent on campaign finance was hugely criticized by many politicians and calls for improved campaign finance laws were popular, though no major party pledged anything concrete.

Coalition Talks

In April 2520, the various party's began to meet to discuss coalitions to elect a new President. There was some concern that technically the Republic did not have a President, with acting President Dahlia Avander-Slade absent. However, she had made allowances that Treasury Secretary Addison Morley would be "designated successor" while she was away.
As the Social Democrats had the most seats, custom stated they would have the first attempt to form a coalition. They already had the support of Gurava, giving them 37% of the assembly and they reached out to the Centrists, who refused to back their bid and instead stated that Keavett Creed, their nominee, should be President. This caused deadlock in the negotations.
Secretary of Defence Kenzo Hiromi, of the Isolationist Party, attempted to form a coalition but could not find enough moderate votes.
As negotiations dragged on and on, things were further complicated by the instability in the Destiny Party and the legal issues affecting Dahlia Avander-Slade.
After an unprecedented five months of negotiations, the Social Democratic Party agreed to form a coalition with the Centrists, Destiny Party and Vishnu Elpis to get to 51%. Gurava spokesman Patton Rosewood was very critical of the Social Democratic Party for "selling out its people" and going back on their coalition agreement.

The New Government

In September of 2520, Keavett Creed was sworn in as the third President of the Terran Republic. He gave a short speech, calling for unity and patriotism and called out the Social Democratic Party for "Putting country ahead of Party".
The new cabinet was announced as:

• Ryley Marcus - Chief of Staff - Centrist
• Leander Ashpool  - Secretary of Defence - Destiny
• Malik Grumman - Treasury Secretary - Social Democrat
• Gawain Knottman - Foreign Secretary - Social Democrat
• Dagmar Dreifert - Interior Secretary - Social Democrat
• Lucielle Snow - Justice Secretary - Social Democrat
• Dr Havan Boaz - Intelligence - Vishnu Elpis

Malik Grumman announced a shock party-switch after the cabinet was formed, which saw the Destiny Party strongly criticize the Social Democrats for going back on the coalition agreement.