Next up, something I've had coming for a while, and I finally broke the block today to actually get the write up finished! I might add to it though but I wanted to get it out there to try and get back into the swing of things and out of my rut.
Here's
Oregon and the two most recent elections held in the nation, including one today. The list of First Ministers and the election navbox will follow in the next few days when I get time to convert them into the correct format.
I hope you all enjoy this
Centre-Right Cruises to Victory in Oregon
VICTORIA – The
National Unionists have secured a victory in the general election held in Oregon today over their opposition, the incumbent
Progressive Democrats. Despite having been the largest party in the General Assembly since the 2015 election, the NUP will now be invited to form a government after securing the support of both the
Moderates and
Independent Citizens party. Incoming First Minister Christy Clark (
NUP) thanked the people or Oregon for choosing "hope over division" and praised her party for a well fought campaign, whilst the outgoing First Minister Brian Cronin (
PDP) announced his resignation as party leader saying that "the people have spoken".
Whilst details on the form the new government will take are unclear at present, party insiders say that the Moderates have agreed to a formal coalition agreement, with leader Sherrie Sprenger serving as Deputy First Minister. Independent Citizens leader Shawn Vulliez has made it clear that his party would not be entering a formal agreement, instead pursuing a more
ad hoc arrangement with the NUP, agreeing to vote on issues based on "merit rather than a pre-determined agreement".
The
Dominion of Oregon is a British constituent country located on the Pacific Coast of North America, bordered by the Dominion of Canada to the north and northeast, the Commonwealth of Missouri to the east, the Kingdom of the Californias to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west.
Paleo-Indians first inhabited modern Oregon approximately 13,200 years ago, with permanent settlements established across the nation by the 8000 BCE, although the majority were concentrated along the lower Kolumbiya and Willamette Rivers as well as the western valleys. By the time European explorers first reached the region, Oregon was home to dozens of Aboriginal American groups, and although the native inhabitants welcomed European traders, the influx of foreign diseases devastated local populations. Spanish sailors became the first European visitors to the region that is now modern Oregon, with Juan de Fuca undertaking detailed mapping and surveys in 1592. Explorers came, primarily by sea, in search of the Northwest Passage to link Europe and Asia. Expeditions began to be undertaken with increasing frequency in 1774, when the Spanish frigate
Santiago, captained by Juan Pérez, explored the coast of the Pacific Northwest from modern California to Alaska. British explorer James Cook explored the Oregon Coast in 1778 in search for the Northwest Passage, whilst George Vancouver explored Puget Sound and the Kolumbiya, claiming the region for Britain.
The presence of the Alaskan colony to the north of Oregon gave rise to the Oregon boundary dispute between Britain and Russia. The friendly dispute remained unresolved prior to Britain’s seizure of Alaska during the Crimean War, although the areas north and west of the Kolumbiya River were “jointly occupied” by the two powers, Russian influence can be seen in many places and family names throughout Oregon, as well as small Russophone populations in the north of the country. The Lewis and Clark Expedition in the 1800s, as well as the surveys of David Thompson, publicised the abundance of fur-bearing animals in Oregon, leading to the fur trade in the territory.
Oregon continued to be administered separately to the United Colonies in the east of British America, and saw a population boom in the early 19th century as pioneers made the difficult overland journey along the “Oregon Trail” to settle the region. At the outbreak of the Republican Rebellion, regular British troops with withdrawn and sent east, and Oregon was spared any major fighting during the conflict. The Gold Rush of the 1850s led to the rapid development of modern Oregonian cities like Victoria and Vancouver. Granted formal government in 1871, Oregon became the 5th dominion to ratify the 1876 Acts of Union, and acceded to the Union as one of the original dominions on 4 July 1876.
In the 1880s railroads assisted the development of the nation’s forestry and farming industries, triggering the rapid growth of its cities. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Oregon became an important manufacturing and trade hub for the British Empire to expand its influence in the North Pacific. Like all the British American dominions except Louisiana, Oregon was spared the destruction of the First World War, until the outbreak of a Communist uprising in the neighbouring Canadian province of Alaska saw violence spread into northern Oregon. During the interwar and post-war periods, Oregon became a focus for war and defence industries, such as Boeing, and home to several bases for the Royal Navy, as well as playing a role in the creation of Britain’s first atomic bombs.
In the 21st century Oregon is the fifth-largest and the ninth most populous British Dominion, boasting the eleventh largest economy and a very high HDI score. Economically the nation is dominated by natural resource, particularly fishing, logging and mining, as well as the aerospace and defence industries, and Oregon is well known for several prominent international companies such as Microsoft, Amazon and Boeing. Demographically, Oregon remains dominated by those of European descent, but there is a substantial Asian population, which makes up the most visible minority group.
The
2015 Oregonian general election was held on 11 August 2015 to elect, under the mixed member proportional representation system, the 284 members of the Oregonian House of Delegates.
In a shock result the incumbent coalition government, led by the broad tent centre-left
Progressive Democrats, lost their majority in the House, with the PDP being reduced to the second largest party behind the centre-right liberal conservative
National Unionists. Senior coalition partner, the
Greens lost 9 seats, with their leader Blair Wilson losing re-election and resigning the party leadership, whilst
Independent Citizens, the rebranded Pirate Party, saw their share of the vote hold steady.
Of remaining four parties, all were able to secure an increase in seats with the progressive conservative
Moderates, under second-time leader Dave Reichert, left-wing
Socialists, right-wing
Christian Heritage and the
Libertarian all increasing their share of the popular vote and representation in the General Assembly. Despite pundits claiming the PDP had lost the election, incumbent First Minister Brian Cronin was able to survive in office by securing a confidence and supply agreement with the Socialists to prop up his weakened coalition. However the loss of the Green party leader and the weakening of the two main coalition partners has many predicting that the government will collapse before the end of the four-year General Assembly.
The
2017 Oregonian general election was held on 19 September 2017 to elect, under the mixed member proportional representation system, the 284 members of the Oregonian House of Delegates.
Held just under two years early, the 2017 election was called following the decision by
Independent Citizens and the
Socialists to withdraw their support from the coalition following the
Progressive Democrats refusal to back copyright law reform. The weakening of the government led to the opposition
National Unionists to call for a vote of no confidence, which was pre-empted by First Minister Brian Cronin asking the viceroy to dissolve the General Assembly. Dame Judith Guichon originally declined his request and asked opposition leader Christy Clark to form a government, but when it became clear that she would be unable to command the support of the House, the viceroy agreed to call an early election.
The campaign was fought mainly around the historically successes and failures of the two largest parties, with the PDP championing their support of the environment and lowering the voting age to 16, whilst slamming the NUP for its support of big business and nuclear power. The NUP in turn criticised the PDP for the rising budget deficit, and pointed to their historic success at balancing Oregon’s budget, as well as championing a balanced approach in the energy sector between renewables and nuclear. The PDP suffered throughout the campaign as the Independent Citizens party criticised them for claiming several of their policy initiatives as their own, whilst the Greens under new leader Adam Olsen distanced themselves from the Progressive Democrats. Another key issue was the health service in Oregon, with the PDP accusing the NUP of wanting "privatisation by subterfuge", whilst the NUP called the PDP "reckless in their funding of non-essential services".
In the end the electorate chose to return the National Unionist to power after sixteen years in opposition, although they had to rely on the
Moderates, under new leader Sherrie Sprenger, in a formal agreement and the tacit support of the Independent Citizens on an ad hoc basis. ICP leader Shawn Vulliez made it clear that his party would not formally support the NUP, but would vote on an issue-by-issue basis. Whilst the PDP were the many losers on the night, the
Christian Heritage party found itself in a crisis after losing four seats following leader Glenn Beck’s on mic comments calling Christy Clark a fascist for refusing to consider an electoral pact with his party.
