2018 Presidential Election

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lord caedus

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Monday, March 21st 2022

Kentucky Governor Ed Barrie resigns after accepting plea deal

Lexington — Ed Barrie (R-KY) has resigned as governor of Kentucky after signing a plea deal with federal prosecutors over his role in a fraudulent veterans' charity.

Barrie, who had served as the state's chief executive since 2015, was embroiled in several controversies related to his time before becoming governor. A career military officer, Barrie rose to the position of Chief of Staff of the United States Army before retiring in 2000. Between then and entering politics as a Republican in 2014, Barrie served on several boards for both defense contractors and charities, including one he helped co-found in 2007 called Operation Healing Honor.

In November, federal investigators began investigation Operation Healing Honor for defrauding both donors and military veterans, arresting several people including Ed Barrie Jr., Barrie's eldest son, on charges ranging from wire fraud, embezzlement and obstruction of justice. Earlier this month, Barrie himself was named a "person of interest" by federal prosecutors in the case.

In early December, his former aide, retired lieutenant colonel Mark Wilkes, alleged the Barrie had ordered him to falsify paperwork so that Barrie would qualify for the Distinguished Combat Service Medal (DCSM). Barrie denied this at the time, calling Wilkes, a distinguished combat veteran with terminal cancer a "coward and a liar."

The effect was a hammer-blow to Barrie's popularity, which plummeted to less than one-quarter of Kentuckians approving of his job as governor in the last polls taken before his resignation. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives had voted overwhelmingly to begin impeachment proceedings and political prognosticators expected Barrie to be impeached in the House before the end of the month, with his removal by the Senate (also controlled by Republicans) being viewed as likely.

In the plea agreement signed by Barrie, the former governor admitted to several offenses, including tax and wire fraud, plus admitting to filing false documentation with the Department of Defense (Barrie was not criminally charged on this last offense owing to the statute of limitations). The 82 year-old agreed to serve five years on probation, surrender the DCSM he was not authorized to wear, and pay both court filing fees and a fine in the amount of nearly $1.5 million, the difference in between the amount he would have been awarded in his military pension if he had retired at the time he ordered Wilkes to submit false paperwork, and what he was awarded since his retirement in 2000. The former governor also agreed to testify in any further cases involving Operation Healing Honor as part of his deal with prosecutors.

Barrie's lieutenant governor, Mark Hampton (R), was sworn in as Kentucky's 65th governor within an hour of his resignation. In a short speech after being sworn in, Hampton called it a "dark day for our commonwealth," and called on "the patience of Kentuckians of all faiths and creeds" to "right our ship of state and repair our image."
 

Bad'Wolf

lord caedus said:
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Monday, March 21st 2022

Kentucky Governor Ed Barrie resigns after accepting plea deal
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I love this story. Even if it showed that Bartlet was a good guy for allowing Barrie to vent his ideas, even if they painted him in a bad light, I always thought the show had left Barrie get off too easy.
 

heatmaster

Marky Bunny said:
No rush, they are just showing that they are more organised and prepared than in 2018.
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Point noted, but nevertheless, if I'm Sam, I'd be holding my cards close to my chest! Once the identity of Duke's running mate is known, Sam and who he decides to select, becomes center stage and the biggest political parlor game in town; why not milk it for all its worth? It becomes the dominant news story, even eclipsing Duke's own moment of triumph; do what LBJ did, prior to his eventual pick; he might want to consider Meridith Payne, her race (Blk), political experience and position (Congresswoman from Michigan and Treasury secretary) and gender (woman), would highlight Duke's own bigotry; Payne is virtually untouchable and has been through the vetting process already! So what's not to like?
 

RRusso1982

If Duke picks another extremist, Seaborn should pick a centrist. Someone who would appeal to swing voters and moderate Republicans. There is no Hayden Straus this time running as a third party candidate. The left flank should be OK. Duke will be the motivation for them to vote. I actually think Duke will have trouble finding a running mate, like George McGovern in 1972. I don't think any ambitious Republicans that are looking at running in 2026 or later want to hitch their wagon to Duke. I think Duke being the nominee will be like a nuclear bomb down the ticket. Riley and Harris will want to get as many Republicans out of the blast zone as possible and tell them to drop Duke like a hot potato and run from him.
 
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heatmaster

WestWingNut said:
Ya know who Duke should pick? That businessman that CJ worked for. What's his name? Oh yeah, Franklin Hollis. I think he'd mix things up and add some uniqueness to the ticket.
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Now that would be a hoot! 🤣 Duke-Hollis? Why not? I mean Hollis is a walking talking jinx! A gift that keeps on giving and hell Sam can sit back & point at Hollis, I know that guy! Boy! Do I know him! He wouldn't even have to campaign! Let Duke do all the work and it's a bigger landslide for Sam! LBJ is gonna be jealous!
 

WestWingNut

heatmaster said:
Now that would be a hoot! 🤣 Duke-Hollis? Why not? I mean Hollis is a walking talking jinx! A gift that keeps on giving and hell Sam can sit back & point at Hollis, I know that guy! Boy! Do I know him! He wouldn't even have to campaign! Let Duke do all the work and it's a bigger landslide for Sam! LBJ is gonna be jealous!
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FDR would be jealous
 

lord caedus

A few more Senate lists to chip away at the number of states remaining before some of them become obsolete next January.
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Lists of United States Senators (1985-present)
AL • AK • AZ • AR • CA • CO • CT • DE • FL • GA • HI • ID • IL • IN • IA • KS • KY • LA • ME • MD • MA • MI • MN • MS • MO • MT • NE • NV • NH • NJ • NM • NY • NC • ND • OH • OK • OR • PA • RI • SC • SD • TN • TX • UT • VT • VA • WA • WV • WI • WY
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United States Senators from Louisiana​
Class 2
1985-1990: Keith Proctor (Democratic)
Elections: 1984
1990-2015: Keith Proctor (Republican)
Elections: 1990, 1996, 2002, 2008
2015-2027: Rick Remick (Democratic)
Elections: 2014, 2020

Class 3
1948-1987: Russell B. Long (Democratic)
Elections: 1948 (special), 1950, 1956, 1962, 1968, 1974, 1980
1987-2005: Cole Quigley (Republican)
Elections: 1986, 1992, 1998
2005-2011: Will Villegas (Democratic)
Elections: 2004, 2010
2011-2012: Judi Rand (Independent)
2012-2023: David Morrison (Republican)
Elections: 2012 (special), 2016

Proctor changed parties in 1990 after seeing the way the winds were blowing (he was a conservative Democrat when he was first elected, so it wasn't that big of a switch).

Quigley eventually became governor of Louisiana. Villegas was appointed by Glen Allen Walken to the post of Ambassador to the United Nations just after winning re-election. Then-governor Quigley picked Rand, the state chief justice to replace Villegas. She was an independent, but caucused with the Republicans. She didn't run for a term of her own, but Walken appointed her to the Supreme Court to replace Patrick Lafayette, the first of the three vacancies he filled.

United States Senators from Rhode Island​
Class 1
1983-1996: Tony Berelli (Democratic)
Elections: 1982, 1988, 1994
1996: Mary Leonard (Republican)
1996-2025: John Huntingdon (Democratic)
Elections: 1996 (special), 2000, 2006, 2012, 2018

Class 2
1985-2015: Michael Swain (Republican)
Elections: 1984, 1990, 1996, 2002, 2008
2015-2027: Jim Velazquez (Democratic)
Elections: 2014, 2020

Tony Berelli was the Senate Majority Leader from 1991 to 1995 when the Democrats replaced him with a young go-getter from Texas named John Hoynes because the whispers became too much. Then it turned out to be more than whispers when he was caught embezzling campaign funds and taking bribes and left office in disgrace in 1996. Leonard (new character) was appointed to fill the vacancy but Huntingdon easily won the special election to permanently fill the seat.

Swain was essentially an old-school New England Republican who was the Senate's resident military & defense expert. He was Santos' first pick for Secretary of Defense and was also considered for a position in the first term of the Walken administration but political realities caused him to miss out on both. After he retired from the Senate, he served as Secretary of Labor during Walken's second term.

United States Senators from Utah​
Class 1
1977-2003: Earl Dern (Republican)
Elections: 1976, 1982, 1988, 1994, 2000
2003-2025: Jeff Heston (Republican)
Elections: 2003 (special), 2006, 2012, 2018

Class 3
1974-1987: Jake Garn (Republican)
Elections: 1974, 1980
1987-1999: Steve Musgrave (Democratic)
Elections: 1986, 1992
1999-2005: Archibald Brown (Republican)
Elections: 1998
2005-2011: John Degbie (Democratic)
Elections: 2004
2011-2023: Mark Elderton (Republican)
Elections: 2010, 2016

Dern was Senate Majority Leader for Bartlet's first term, but retired early in 2003 after an Alzheimer's diagnosis. Governor Heston, who had just come off of Robert Ritchie's losing presidential bid, resigned as governor and his successor appointed him to fill Dern's Senate seat. In an inversion of what usually happens when a governor appoints himself to the Senate, Heston won the special election and is still there almost 20 years later.

Garn went down in a shocking defeat to former NASA astronaut Steve Musgrave as a result of Garn's influence on NASA and the Challenger disaster serving as a perfect storm for him. He won re-election as a result of a divided GOP but lost to state GOP elder statesman Archibald Brown in 1998. Brown's age precluded him from serving another term, and young state senator Joseph Bloom was all set to top Dern's 26 year term in the Senate...until he was indicted for fraud, embezzlement and conspiracy. John Degbie then became the most recent Democrat elected statewide in Utah, serving one term before getting buried in a landslide against Mark Elderton. Elderton's brother John has been Utah's governor since 2005 and flirted with a presidential bid in 2020 before deciding against it.
 
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Marky Bunny

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Thursday March 24th, 2022

Four by-elections being held today

Four by-elections are being held today in Bury North, Carlisle, Illford North and Leeds Central.

Labour are hopeful of gaining at least two of the seats held by the Conservatives in Bury North, Carlisle, Illford North. Leeds Central is regarded as a safe Labour seat. All four are being counted overnight.

BBC News will have the full results on Friday morning.
 

lord caedus

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El-Amin, Bryce named to VP search committee

Thursday, March 24th, 2022

Governor Hakeem El-Amin (D-NY) and Senator Mitch Bryce (D-IL) will make up one-half of the Seaborn campaign's vice presidential selection committee. The Seaborn campaign announced that the two men would join campaign chair Marc Chorley and attorney Jordon Kendall in managing the process of finding President Seaborn's running mate in November's election.

A press release naming the committee noted that Chorley would oversee the process, while Kendall would be tasked with vetting candidates considered by the committee. Both El-Amin and Bryce were not considered candidates to join the ticket; as a naturalized citizen, El-Amin is constitutionally ineligible while Bryce has publicly declined to be considered due to his age (he will be 74 years old on Election Day).

According to the press release, the committee will begin the work of creating a list of candidates to bring to Seaborn, which will be eventually pared down to a shortlist from which the president will choose his running mate.

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Thursday, March 24th 2022

WH staffer's tip led to Barrie's resignation

Washington, D.C. — The chain of events that led to former governor Ed Barrie (R-KY) resigning in disgrace on Monday, federal court filings show, was began with White House Communications Director John Edwards learning from former colleagues of veterans being defrauded by a charity called Operation Healing Honor.

Edwards, who before his media and political career was a decorated Army soldier, told investigators that he had been informed of a charity that one of his colleagues said was withholding promised services from other military veterans when that colleague came to visit Edwards in Washington. Edwards, the filings show, successfully contacted several other veterans who claimed to have been defrauded by the charity, with most in Kentucky, but others in Ohio and Indiana. The WH staffer then took his concerns to White House Chief of Staff Will Bailey, who referred the matter to the Office of White House Counsel and from there, the Department of Justice.

A Department of Justice spokeswoman said that the investigation's origin should not be taken as a sign that the investigation was politically motivated.

"The evidence of fraudulent and shameful actions perpetrated by OHH (Operation Healing Honor) leaders uncovered by federal investigators should be beyond sufficient to convince nay-sayers of the truth of the criminal charges...That former governor Barrie belongs to a different political party than Mr. Edwards should not mean he should not have been allowed to obstruct federal investigators and benefit from fraud perpetrated on both donors to his charity, and military veterans in desperate need of assistance."

President Seaborn, when asked about the case today, similarly warned that the case should not be misrepresented as a partisan witch hunt, noting that Kentucky's Republican legislature had begun impeachment proceedings against Barrie before his resignation, and that he was proud of his staffer's conduct in the affair:

"Those of you in the press corps know that John can passionate and be blunt at times, but when were discussing how to handle his role [in bringing reports of OHH's fraud to federal investigators], he was very subdued. I asked him how he though we should handle it, and he told me that he didn't do anything special in bringing it to our attention. He said 'It's not about me. It's about the people who these selfish cowards lied to and stole from.'

I'd like to say to my friend John that, no, you did do something special: you saw an injustice and helped set it right."
 

Marky Bunny

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Friday March 25th, 2022

Labour make two big gains in four by-elections

Labour won the Carlisle and Ilford North by-elections yesterday, they also failed narrowly to take Bury North. They also held onto the seat of Leeds Central (although with a slightly reduced majority),

Carlisle was taken with over an 8% swing to Labour, and Ilford North an 11% swing. Ilford North will have it's first Labour MP in Redbridge Councillor David Parkes, for the first time since 1978, it was a seat that remained loyal to the Conservative's even during the 1996 landslide defeat.

The biggest swing of the night came in Bury North, (over 13%), but it wasn't enough to take the seat, with the Conservative candidate local businessman Paul Hilton holding on with a majority of 1, 347 down from William Morgan's thumping majority of 16, 321 at the 2018 General Election.

In Leeds Central, the Labour majority fell by 7,000 votes, and the NPP moved above the Conservatives into second place.

Labour leader Jack Coll will visit both Carlisle and Ilford North today, to celebrate with the party's two newest MP's.

Full Results
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(with many thanks to @lord caedus for the Wiki box as usual).
 

Marky Bunny

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Updated Current make-up of the House of Commons
Conservative 334
Labour 257
Liberal Democrat 14
National Peoples 13
DUP 10
SNP 8
SF 5
PC 4
SDLP 2
UUP 1
Socialist Alliance 1
Speaker 1
Conservative Majority: 18 seats
Working Conservative Majority: 27 seats*
Conservative 333
Labour 255
Liberal Democrat 14
National Peoples 13
DUP 10
SNP 8
PC 4
SDLP 2
UPP 1
Socialist Alliance 1

* Excludes the Speaker, three Deputy Speakers (two Labour and one Conservative) and the five Sinn Féin members (who follow a policy of abstentionism).
 

lord caedus

More Senate lists, knocking out the last four states alphabetically.
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Lists of United States Senators (1985-present)
AL • AK • AZ • AR • CA • CO • CT • DE • FL • GA • HI • ID • IL • IN • IA • KS • KY • LA • ME • MD • MA • MI • MN • MS • MO • MT • NE • NV • NH • NJ • NM • NY • NC • ND • OH • OK • OR • PA • RI • SC • SD • TN • TX • UT • VT • VA • WA • WV • WI • WY
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United States Senators from Vermont​
Class 1
1971-1989: Robert Stafford (Republican)
Elections: 1972 (special), 1976, 1982
1989-2025: Sarah O'Brien (Democratic)
Elections: 1988, 1994, 2000, 2006, 2012, 2018

Class 3
1975-1993: Bryce Kane (Democratic)
Elections: 1974, 1980, 1986
1993-2011: Walter Crandell (Republican)
Elections: 1992, 1998, 2004
2011-2017: Matt Skinner (Republican)
Elections: 2010
2017-2023: Marietta Nerlinger (Democratic)
Elections: 2016

One weird fact is that IOTL, despite being very liberal, Vermont has only ever elected one Democrat to the Senate (which will almost certainly change because Patrick Leahy is retiring and it's pretty unlikely that whoever replaces him will not be a Democrat). Another is that Vermont is also the only state to have not been represented by a woman in Congress, either in the House or Senate. Both of these aren't true ITTL, especially the latter as Vermont's delegation has been all-female (the representative for the state's at-large House district is Alexis Laroquette) since 2017.

O'Brien is the Senate Minority Whip, meaning she's the number two Democrat in the Senate behind Jimmy Fitzsimmons.

Crandell was a classic New England liberal(ish) Republican whose like has all but passed from the scene. Skinner succeeded him in a very tight race and became the first openly LGBT person to be elected to the Senate. But he couldn't defy political gravity twice and got crushed by Nerlinger in 2016. He failed to unseat O'Brien two years later, but was picked to be Secretary of Transportation in the incoming Seaborn administration a month later.

United States Senators from Virginia​
Class 1
1983-1989: Paul Trible (Republican)
Elections: 1982
1989-2007: Roy Turner (Democratic)
Elections: 1988, 1994, 2000
2007-2013: Harold Webster (Republican)
Elections: 2006
2013-2019: Brandon Jeffries (Democratic)
Elections: 2012
2019-2025: Rob Buchanan (Republican)
Elections: 2018

Class 2
1979-1997: Mackland MacAllum (Republican)
Elections: 1978, 1984, 1990
1997-2015: Henry Malken (Republican)
Elections: 1996, 2002, 2008
2015-2027: Louise Thornton (Democratic)
Elections: 2014, 2020

Virginia's class 1 seat is another seat with a lot of one-termers with Roy "Three Terms" Turner being the exception. Trible & Webster, though, at least were one-termers by volition; Jeffries was unseated by Buchanan.

MacAllum was Senate Majority Whip during the Newman administration. Lou, of course, was on the Santos campaign & served as Director of Communications for the first half of his term. Considering her actor's height (listed at 5'1"), she's also probably the shortest senator at the moment.

United States Senators from Wisconsin​
Class 1
1957-1989: William Proxmire (Democratic)
Elections: 1957 (special), 1958, 1964, 1970, 1976, 1982
1989-2001: Julie Franklin (Republican)
Elections: 1988, 1994
2001-2013: Jeremy Lyons (Democratic)
Elections: 2000, 2006
2013-2019: Nolan Kinnaird (Republican)
Elections: 2012
2019-2025: Nate Bradshaw (Democratic)
Elections: 2018

Class 3
1981-2012: Sean Quatermain (Republican)
Elections: 1980, 1986, 1992, 1998, 2004, 2010
2012-2017: Marty McNeith (Democratic)
Elections: 2012 (special)
2017-2023: James Clarke (Republican)
Elections: 2016

Wisconsin has had a pretty tumultuous time in the life of the thread(s): every Senate election except 2010 has seen a seat change hands (ironically, the only time IRL a Senate seat has flipped in Wisconsin so far in the 20th century was in 2010 when Russ Feingold lost to Ron Johnson). Bradshaw got his start as a liberal talk show host who was married to a (now former) Democratic congresswoman and had the good luck to take Kinnaird on in a Democratic presidential election year considering he won by just over 7,000 votes in a race where 3.2 million people voted.

Quatermain decided to retire only a few years after he won a sixth term and McNeith won the special election held alongside the 2012 midterms. So Wisconsin briefly had two Democratic senators for a few months between McNeith's swearing-in and Kinnaird taking office.

United States Senators from Wyoming​
Class 1
1977-1989: Malcolm Wallop (Republican)
Elections: 1976, 1982
1989-2025: Herman Morton (Republican)
Elections: 1988, 1994, 2000, 2006, 2012, 2018

Class 2
1978-2003: Benjamin Jennings (Republican)
Elections: 1978, 1984, 1990, 1996
2003-2021: Kent Harris (Republican)
Elections: 2002, 2008, 2014

To no one's surprise, Wyoming has only been represented by Republicans in the past 35 years. The only thing of note here is that Jennings took office early since his predecessor Clifford Hansen resigned early to give him a boost on seniority. So many senators were doing this around this time that the Senate changed the rules on seniority, so every senator elected in a general election now has their seniority date fixed at the first date of the Congress they were elected to.
 

lord caedus

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RNC staffers confirm Boone "was nearly arrested" for assault on Duke at 2014 RNC

Sunday, March 27th, 2022

Current and former Republican National Committee (RNC) staffers have confirmed former senator Alan Duke (R-OK)'s claim that then-governor Sean Boone (R-WA) was "nearly arrested" for assaulting the then-current senator at the 2014 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Duke claimed in a speech to Christian leaders in Virginia earlier today that RNC and law enforcement officials had asked him if he had wished to press charges against Boone, who reportedly began a fight with Duke at the convention after Duke labelled Boone as part of the "homosexual mafia" that in Duke's words was "destroying this country" and insulted Boone's wife Emma after the governor confronted him about the remarks.

"I have to admit, my first thought was 'yes, I am [pressing charges]'," Duke admitted. "But a second of prayer allowed me to remember the example of our Savior and to see that I had also wronged this man by losing my own temper and saying hurtful things about an innocent person."

Saint Paul Police Department officers took statements from Duke and eyewitnesses, who confirmed Duke's assertion that Boone was the one who started the scuffle by punching Duke twice in quick succession. Duke, who is 24 years older than Boone, reportedly tried to grab Boone's shirt and punch the younger man, but Boone, a martial arts aficionado, deflected the punch and landed a strong blow to Duke's left eye before being separated from the Oklahoman. The Boones had left the convention site by the time police arrived to take statements, and had arrived back in Washington state before a decision on whether criminal charges would be filed.

Staffers say that Jeff Haffley, the chair of the RNC at the time, discussed the situation with White House Chief of Staff Jane Braun before police arrived, and that Haffley was worried that Boone would be charged.

"It was a very real possibility," one staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, recalls. "It could have been a real issue, having a popular governor arrested during the national convention, but for once, [Duke] wasn't a complete ass and declined to press charges."

Duke reportedly apologized to the Boones by phone call the next day, after the intercession of then-governor James Ritchie (R-FL), after the couple had returned to Washington state. Boone himself apologized to both Duke and his constituents for losing his temper. The Boones returned to St. Paul a few days later to be on-hand for Glen Allen Walken's speech accepting the party's nomination.

Boone, who is now serving as Secretary of the Interior, declined requests to comment on the story.

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Former House minority leader Arkin to leave Congress in June

Sunday, March 27th, 2022

Congressman Jim Arkin (R-ID) announced today that he will resign his seat in Congress at the end of June to take a position in a Washington D.C. law firm.

Arkin, who served as the Republican leader in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2015, will become a partner in the law firm of Brooks & Associates upon the election of his successor in a special election held at the end of June.

"I want to express my gratitude to the people of my district for letting me represent them for the past 27 years," Arkin said. "It is time for me to embark on a new chapter in my life."

Despite his former status as the top Republican in the House, Arkin remained a backbencher during the leadership of his successor, Mitchell Harris (R-IN), who led the party to its first majority in 14 years in 2020. According to reports, he was privately critical of the party leadership during last fall's budget showdown that led to the nation's longest federal government shutdown, and had floated the possibility of asking former president Glen Allen Walken, himself a former Speaker of the House, to challenge Harris for the speakership during the period immediately after the shutdown. (Walken's office declined to answer questions over whether the former president would accept a draft to return as speaker)

Arkin's brother David serves as Governor of Idaho and has declared his intention to seek the state's U.S. Senate seat that is being vacated by Clark Gibson (R). The younger Arkin's office has ordered the special election to take place on June 27th.
 
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