Alternate Electoral Maps
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Laboratories of Democracy, Part XI: Utah
Where the Roofs are Thatched with Gold
Utah is... weird. The first white settlers in the state were Mormons who fled persecution at the hands of their opponents in the Midwest and established agriculture in the valleys south and east of the Great Salt Lake. When the Transcontinental Railroad arrived in 1869, the Mormon domination of the region curbed settlement by other religious groups, and even today a solid majority of Utah's population are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is almost certainly because of this that statehood applications for Utah were consistently refused until the LDS Church had given up its practice of polygamy, and of the continental United States, only Oklahoma, Arizona and New Mexico took longer to gain admission to the Union.
Throughout the century and a half since Utah was settled, the LDS Church has retained a dominance in politics as strong as its dominance in spiritual life. The People's Party, which is endorsed by the Church and partially shares its leadership, controls both the governor's mansion and the state legislature, backed by the bloc votes of nearly all Mormons in the state. The party's ideology is an eclectic mix, combining hardline religious conservatism on social issues with a relatively progressive attitude to economic matters - the state maintains a single-payer healthcare system, and the Church provides generous relief for the poor with the state government's support. This is not entirely unlike the "social-Christian" wing of the Democratic Party, who the People's Party sits with in Congress at times, but they've never actually folded into the Democratic Party because of the large cultural gap. Another factor in this is how the federal Democrats have at times joined the GOP in lending support to the People's Party's traditional opponents, the Liberal Party - a big-tent grouping representing the non-Mormons in the state and providing a counterbalance to People's Party dominance. The Liberals have moved back and forth on the ideological scale, but currently aligns fairly closely with the Republicans, and sits with them in Congress. Together, these two parties form one of the purest two-party dichotomies seen in any state, with the People's Party generally retaining its majority but the Liberals occasionally breaking through in times of discontent.
Utah uses proportional representation to elect its 99-member legislature, and in recent years this has led to some dilution of the two-party system as federal parties have began to stand in parts of Utah with moderate success. The most successful of these has been the Liberty Party, who do well with discontented Mormons who believe the People's Party isn't right-wing enough, as well as some conservative non-Mormons in the southern and eastern parts of the state. In Salt Lake City, traditionally about the only remotely left-of-center city in the state, both Labor and the Greens have obtained small footholds, the latter also doing well toward the north end of the state. Nonetheless, none of these are anywhere near as strong as the two main parties, and the People's Party retain an absolute majority of legislators during the 2014-18 term.
Texas
Washington
Massachussetts
New Hampshire
Georgia
Louisiana
Minnesota
South Carolina
Nebraska
Virginia
Where the Roofs are Thatched with Gold
Utah is... weird. The first white settlers in the state were Mormons who fled persecution at the hands of their opponents in the Midwest and established agriculture in the valleys south and east of the Great Salt Lake. When the Transcontinental Railroad arrived in 1869, the Mormon domination of the region curbed settlement by other religious groups, and even today a solid majority of Utah's population are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is almost certainly because of this that statehood applications for Utah were consistently refused until the LDS Church had given up its practice of polygamy, and of the continental United States, only Oklahoma, Arizona and New Mexico took longer to gain admission to the Union.
Throughout the century and a half since Utah was settled, the LDS Church has retained a dominance in politics as strong as its dominance in spiritual life. The People's Party, which is endorsed by the Church and partially shares its leadership, controls both the governor's mansion and the state legislature, backed by the bloc votes of nearly all Mormons in the state. The party's ideology is an eclectic mix, combining hardline religious conservatism on social issues with a relatively progressive attitude to economic matters - the state maintains a single-payer healthcare system, and the Church provides generous relief for the poor with the state government's support. This is not entirely unlike the "social-Christian" wing of the Democratic Party, who the People's Party sits with in Congress at times, but they've never actually folded into the Democratic Party because of the large cultural gap. Another factor in this is how the federal Democrats have at times joined the GOP in lending support to the People's Party's traditional opponents, the Liberal Party - a big-tent grouping representing the non-Mormons in the state and providing a counterbalance to People's Party dominance. The Liberals have moved back and forth on the ideological scale, but currently aligns fairly closely with the Republicans, and sits with them in Congress. Together, these two parties form one of the purest two-party dichotomies seen in any state, with the People's Party generally retaining its majority but the Liberals occasionally breaking through in times of discontent.
Utah uses proportional representation to elect its 99-member legislature, and in recent years this has led to some dilution of the two-party system as federal parties have began to stand in parts of Utah with moderate success. The most successful of these has been the Liberty Party, who do well with discontented Mormons who believe the People's Party isn't right-wing enough, as well as some conservative non-Mormons in the southern and eastern parts of the state. In Salt Lake City, traditionally about the only remotely left-of-center city in the state, both Labor and the Greens have obtained small footholds, the latter also doing well toward the north end of the state. Nonetheless, none of these are anywhere near as strong as the two main parties, and the People's Party retain an absolute majority of legislators during the 2014-18 term.
Texas
Washington
Massachussetts
New Hampshire
Georgia
Louisiana
Minnesota
South Carolina
Nebraska
Virginia
Based off of this, here is the Democratic primaries of 2036 between Peyton and fjihr. Might be a little biased.
Both Democratic candidates had Socialist views, the only major differences were the fact that fjihr had lived in Canada and Peyton was pro-life.
February
Peyton won Iowa with 52% while fjihr won New Hampshire with 59%. Peyton, being a candidate from what is considered the South, won South Carolina with 61%. He won Nevada with 51%. The first debate was a win for Fjihr.
Peyton Fjihr
Super Tuesday
Peyton came off on top, winning important states such as Texas, Georgia, Virginia, and Colorado. Fjihr won Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Vermont.
March
Fjihr won Illinois, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, and Washington, giving some legitimacy to his campaign. Peyton was still on top with delegates. Peyton's biggest victory was in his home state of Missouri, with over 70%.
April
Polls showed Fjihr behind in New York by at least 10%, but in the end Fjihr won with 55%. The victory came just as #DropOutFjihr was trending on social media. Peyton was ahead by just 300 delegates. California was going to decide the election.
May
Peyton became the presumptive Democratic nominee after his unexpected wins in Oregon and Maine, although Fjihr was just 100 delegates behind. The polls showed a tied race in Cali.
June
When the polls closed in California, Peyton was ahead by 10%. Peyton had clinched the Democratic nomination. Fjihr refused to endorse him at the convention and immediately formed the New Progressive Party. The General Election season had started, with Ivanka Trump as the Republican nominee.
Both Democratic candidates had Socialist views, the only major differences were the fact that fjihr had lived in Canada and Peyton was pro-life.
February
Peyton won Iowa with 52% while fjihr won New Hampshire with 59%. Peyton, being a candidate from what is considered the South, won South Carolina with 61%. He won Nevada with 51%. The first debate was a win for Fjihr.
Peyton Fjihr
Super Tuesday
Peyton came off on top, winning important states such as Texas, Georgia, Virginia, and Colorado. Fjihr won Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Vermont.
March
Fjihr won Illinois, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, and Washington, giving some legitimacy to his campaign. Peyton was still on top with delegates. Peyton's biggest victory was in his home state of Missouri, with over 70%.
April
Polls showed Fjihr behind in New York by at least 10%, but in the end Fjihr won with 55%. The victory came just as #DropOutFjihr was trending on social media. Peyton was ahead by just 300 delegates. California was going to decide the election.
May
Peyton became the presumptive Democratic nominee after his unexpected wins in Oregon and Maine, although Fjihr was just 100 delegates behind. The polls showed a tied race in Cali.
June
When the polls closed in California, Peyton was ahead by 10%. Peyton had clinched the Democratic nomination. Fjihr refused to endorse him at the convention and immediately formed the New Progressive Party. The General Election season had started, with Ivanka Trump as the Republican nominee.
I was inspired a few weeks ago to make something like @Ares96's Laboratories of Democracy, but like @MoralisticCommunist, I decided to make it about a state that doesn't exist IOTL! Here, we have the small but proud state of Erie, born out of the Connecticut Western Reserve. Much like their cousins in New England, Erieans voted Republican solidly for decades upon decades. Even after the state underwent massive changes when the whole area industrialized, the unicameral General Court was dominated by the GOP thanks to gerrymandering. However, the Great Depression changed all of that and after almost a century of Whig/GOP dominance, the Labor Party was able to gain a huge majority-enough to change the electoral system. Gone were the gerrymandered FPTP districts and in came the Regional Closed List Proportional vote! Each county is awarded representatives based on the Huntington-Hill method. This ensured Labor's dominance for most of the 20th century.
During that dominance, standards began to slide and a whole string of Labor administrations proved to be massively corrupt. The GOP had once promised to clean up the act during the 90s and early millennium and were able to form working majorities during those decades. However, the GOP stared too long into the abyss and became just a corrupt as the Labor governments before them. These conditions were perfect for a new party to be born-the Citizens League. In the most recent election, Labor was unable to form a minority government and a Citizens-Green-Independent Labor coalition was able to take power for the first time.
Labor Party-The natural ruling party of Erie for most of the 20th Century. But the times are a-changin', and Labor has forgotten how to survive in the modern world. . This party has become massively corrupt and poor at governance. Even though they were kicked out during the 80s, they learned all the wrong lessons from the 90s. During that time, they rushed towards the center and have been stuck there ever since, starting as Social-Democrats and Socialists, and becoming Left Liberals. Hopefully, this election will be a wake up call for the party's leadership.
Republican Party-The natural ruling party of Erie prior to Labor's dominance, now a shell of its former glory. Ideologically, they're firmly centrist Republicans and devoted to the growth of business-all businesses and are quite socially liberal. During their mediocre rule in the 80s, they failed to live up to their promises of reforming the system and removing government corruption. After the most recent election, they've been relegated to fourth party status, since the Citizens League proved to cut into GOP support more than it did into Labor. Now they hold on for dear life in the more rural regions-biding their time.
Citizens League-a mostly single issue party, centered on cleaning up the government. They really have much of a platform outside of that, in order to appeal to both discontented Labor and GOP voters. As a result, they aren't a big tent party-they're a massive tent party. Thank to their non-ideological platform , they'll be a perfect coalition partner for the other major third party in Eriean politics, the Green Party
Green Party- they're really benefiting from the discontent with Labor. In past elections, they were lucky to get enough votes from college students in Portage County. Portrays themselves as the true leftist alternative to Labor especially after the great move towards the center during the 90s. They're enjoying their first time in the majority and are happy to work with the CL in order to stamp out corruption.
Independent Labor-These Laborites saw the writing on the wall and have crossed the aisle to the Citizens League. They claim to be the truest leftist alternative to Labor and embody the spirit of the older party. They joined were invited into the Cit-Green alliance in order for the coalition to have a working majority. Perfectly happy to be sitting in government, they and the Greens shift the coalition to the left.
Independent- Old Man Jenkins from Put-In-Bay was really mad at the Labor and the Republicans back during the early 90s and was just as surprised as anyone when he got elected as Island County's sole representative back in 1996. He's been massively popular up there ever since, sticking up for the fishing and tourism industry vital to the Islands' economic survival.
During that dominance, standards began to slide and a whole string of Labor administrations proved to be massively corrupt. The GOP had once promised to clean up the act during the 90s and early millennium and were able to form working majorities during those decades. However, the GOP stared too long into the abyss and became just a corrupt as the Labor governments before them. These conditions were perfect for a new party to be born-the Citizens League. In the most recent election, Labor was unable to form a minority government and a Citizens-Green-Independent Labor coalition was able to take power for the first time.
Labor Party-The natural ruling party of Erie for most of the 20th Century. But the times are a-changin', and Labor has forgotten how to survive in the modern world. . This party has become massively corrupt and poor at governance. Even though they were kicked out during the 80s, they learned all the wrong lessons from the 90s. During that time, they rushed towards the center and have been stuck there ever since, starting as Social-Democrats and Socialists, and becoming Left Liberals. Hopefully, this election will be a wake up call for the party's leadership.
Republican Party-The natural ruling party of Erie prior to Labor's dominance, now a shell of its former glory. Ideologically, they're firmly centrist Republicans and devoted to the growth of business-all businesses and are quite socially liberal. During their mediocre rule in the 80s, they failed to live up to their promises of reforming the system and removing government corruption. After the most recent election, they've been relegated to fourth party status, since the Citizens League proved to cut into GOP support more than it did into Labor. Now they hold on for dear life in the more rural regions-biding their time.
Citizens League-a mostly single issue party, centered on cleaning up the government. They really have much of a platform outside of that, in order to appeal to both discontented Labor and GOP voters. As a result, they aren't a big tent party-they're a massive tent party. Thank to their non-ideological platform , they'll be a perfect coalition partner for the other major third party in Eriean politics, the Green Party
Green Party- they're really benefiting from the discontent with Labor. In past elections, they were lucky to get enough votes from college students in Portage County. Portrays themselves as the true leftist alternative to Labor especially after the great move towards the center during the 90s. They're enjoying their first time in the majority and are happy to work with the CL in order to stamp out corruption.
Independent Labor-These Laborites saw the writing on the wall and have crossed the aisle to the Citizens League. They claim to be the truest leftist alternative to Labor and embody the spirit of the older party. They joined were invited into the Cit-Green alliance in order for the coalition to have a working majority. Perfectly happy to be sitting in government, they and the Greens shift the coalition to the left.
Independent- Old Man Jenkins from Put-In-Bay was really mad at the Labor and the Republicans back during the early 90s and was just as surprised as anyone when he got elected as Island County's sole representative back in 1996. He's been massively popular up there ever since, sticking up for the fishing and tourism industry vital to the Islands' economic survival.
Between this and @MoralisticCommunist's work (which is also fantastic - I'm embarrassed I didn't see it when it was first posted), I feel like there's something getting started here. Anything that leads to this thread not being dominated by the Atlas calculator and President Forever is a good thing in my book.
Agreed. It seems as if the US Electoral college maps are the equivalent of the regular map thread's World-A maps. Overly common and need to do something really interesting in order to be notable.
Inspired by @Peyton
2036 GOP Primaries. Me vs @Deblano
_____________________
With the refusal of VP Robert Robertson to run in 2036, the race was wide open. But 2 frontrunners appeared: Governors Deblano (R-VA) and Golfman76 (R-TX)
Deblano was attacked on his former membership to the Libertarian party. I was attacked for being a populist
Also this might be biased
February
Golfman76 Deblano
Nevada's libertarian streak and New Hampshire's overall moderateness gave Deblano victories, I won the other primaries
Super Tuesday
Golfman76 Deblano
We both win our home states so we are staying in
Rest of March
Golfman76 Deblano
yuuuuge wins for me but deblano wins some state so i guess he is staying in
also the dude upset me in ohio and illinois
April
Golfman76 Deblano
Deblano wins in a lot of the Acela primary states and in New York
so yay for him
May
Golfman76 Deblano
the race tightens
June
Golfman76 Deblano
i win the same way obama won in 2008
2036 GOP Primaries. Me vs @Deblano
_____________________
With the refusal of VP Robert Robertson to run in 2036, the race was wide open. But 2 frontrunners appeared: Governors Deblano (R-VA) and Golfman76 (R-TX)
Deblano was attacked on his former membership to the Libertarian party. I was attacked for being a populist
Also this might be biased
February
Golfman76 Deblano
Nevada's libertarian streak and New Hampshire's overall moderateness gave Deblano victories, I won the other primaries
Super Tuesday
Golfman76 Deblano
We both win our home states so we are staying in
Rest of March
Golfman76 Deblano
yuuuuge wins for me but deblano wins some state so i guess he is staying in
also the dude upset me in ohio and illinois
April
Golfman76 Deblano
Deblano wins in a lot of the Acela primary states and in New York
so yay for him
May
Golfman76 Deblano
the race tightens
June
Golfman76 Deblano
i win the same way obama won in 2008
So apparently mapchart.net has a new Map, which is a UK Election map which can be used in so many ways... IT'S SO USEFUL AND EASY
link: https://mapchart.net/uk-election.html
Create your uk election maps!
link: https://mapchart.net/uk-election.html
Create your uk election maps!
I guess that means I will serve as Secretary of State for one term and then run and win in 2044?
together we will destroy the E. V. I. L. terrorist leader evil mcevilson in 2039
Nazi Space Spy
Banned
I'd love to see a program like that which applies to historical British elections. One of my biggest handicaps to a timeline that I've been writing is confusion over British parliamentary boundaries from the past.
mapchart is actually one guy, so i think It would take a lot of work.
Even though this is a downside, you can always give him feedback and tell him to add historical boundaries.
https://mapchart.net/feedback.html
Here is a Parliamentary US election (with more parties!) WIP. Questions? Comments? Suggestions (Please)? Sorry it's so large. Obviously the Conservative party is winning, but I would like the Labor Party to win.
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