A Jovian Election Night's Dream
The
2139 Dacia premier election was held in the aftermath of the Second Whaling War, which began shortly after the 2135 election and ended in 2139. While the war initially proved popular, the invasion and subsequent occupation of Kitasik was seen as unnecessary and costly by most Dacian voters. Kylie Kirner's approval ratings began to slide as the ground war settled into a costly and ongoing while the naval war entered into a stalemate. Kirner and the federal government back on Earth were unwilling to conduct extensive ground wars against other Whaling Congress nations. The Pentagon believed that neutralizing Kitasik was enough while the White House wasn't willing to risk Kirner's approval ratings anymore. The United Nations was finally able to broker a cease-fire agreement in March 2139. Nearly 14,000 Americans had died during combat operations while another 2,500 had died during the ongoing occupation of Kitasik. Meanwhile Kirner's approval ratings sagged in the low 40s and high 30s.
Kylie Kirner still held out hope for a third term as Premier. This proved unlikely given her own popularity and the fact that the Seabreeze Party had entirely folded back into the Republican Party. She formed an exploratory committee in late 2138, but she eventually declined to launch a formal bid for Premier--privately she hoped for a deadlocked nomination that would have no choice but to turn to her. Deputy Premier Riley Martinez hoped to secure the nomination, but Martinez had been marginalized by the Kirner administration for her occasional political gaffes and because she rubbed the Premier the wrong way (a few unfortunate jokes and comments early in Kirner's first term saw Martinez almost entirely sidelined during the Kirner administration). The strongest Democratic candidate was Wallace MacElroy, the former Dacian Secretary of Public Works and a close personal friend of Kirner's. Amanda Hughes Munson, the current Dacian Secretary of Public Safety, was a strong opponent for MacElroy, as was Green Coast Governor James Haley. MacElroy was seen as harsh, acerbic and too close to the unpopular Kirner, while Munson was seen as cold and aloof. Haley, on the other hand, was charismatic and likeable, which carried him through the hotly-contested primaries and into the convention, where he managed a close victory over MacElroy and Munson. He selected Delaney Hanazawa, Kirner's National Security Advisor and a distant cousin to former Republican Premier Todd Hanazawa, as his running mate.
The Republican field was likewise crowded field. The early frontier was retired Rear Admiral Sheldon Bauer, who'd commanded the Coast Guard's 4th Expeditionary Strike Group during the Second Whaling War. Bauer was well-liked by the press, a decorated war hero and a friend of Todd Hanazawa. However, Bauer traded early leads in polling with Governor Frank Maravich of Niviasir and Heidi Carillo--the current President of the Dacian Federalist Society, the former Governor of Sunny Shore and Todd Hanazawa's Seabreeze Coalition running mate in 2131. However, Carillo began to fade fast as Bauer and Maravich became the two frontrunners. But with the two leaders deadlocked, media mogul and Green Coast Chamber of Commerice President Warner Mendoza began to make backroom deals with other prominent Republicans. Mendoza was a well-liked member of the establishment, a prominent fundraiser and donor with deep connections with many Republicans. He was able to secure enough votes to come out of nowhere to snatch the nomination from Bauer and Maravich. As part of his wheelings and dealings, Mendoza agreed to select Cameron Chen--the former Chair of the Dacian Law Enforcement Sequence--as his running mate.
The election proved easy for Mendoza, who alone was worth billions and controlled more than a quarter of all media outlets in Dacia. Kirner's popularity began to drop as Dacia entered into a post-war recession. Unemployment began to rise as consumer confidence began to plummet. Likewise, economic forecasters begna to warn of an impending property bubble. Haley was a charismatic figure who campaigned heavily across Dacia. Mendoza, on the other hand, made few campaign appereances, preferring to use party surrogates to attack Haley while he outspent Haley $250 million to $90 million, bombarding the airwaves with ads. His ads rarely attacked Haley, mostly attacking Kirner while promising a return to normalacy, a drawdawn of the occupation of Kirisik and economic reform to reel in unemployment and the impending property bubble. Unsurprisingly, Mendoza crushed Haley by more than 13 points (6 million votes).
2127 Dacia
2131 Dacia
2133 Xanadu
2135 Dacia
Second Whaling War
2137 Xanadu
2141 Xanadu & 2143 Barasses
2145 Xanadu & 2147 Barasses
2149 Xanadu & 2151 Barasses