Sierra prime ministerial election, 2016
 | This page has been superseded and is obsolete or decanonized, and it is retained primarily for historical interest or will be reworked to fit the current canon. |
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout |
45,913,291 62.4% (voting eligible) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
.png) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
The initial Democratic-Republican nominee was incumbent Prime Minister Steven Hong, who, along with his running mate, Deputy Prime Minister Preston Bolivar, secured the nomination over the Democratic-Republican from San Francisco challenger, Governor Terry Scott. Hong was selected as the official nominee for the Democratic-Republicans in June, but less than three months later, during a special event along his campaign trail, Hong was assassinated on August 12, 2016, just two months before the election. Following Hong's untimely death, the party chose frontrunner Terry Scott as their new nominee.
Prior to Hong's death, the dominant theme in the election year was foreign policy, particularly with Mexico, and the rise of Ameroskepticism against the Conference of American States. With Hong's death however, the prevailing theme was national security, and the resolution of crisis between the radical republicans and monarchists in Sierra, as well as the fate of the post-recession national economy. Other issues included education, healthcare, military spending, race relations, and taxation.
Background[edit | edit source]
According to the Constitution of Sierra in Article IV, it states that in order for a person to be elected Prime Minister of Sierra, they must be a citizen of the Kingdom (a citizen of the Deseret, Hawaii, Sierra, or any of the Sierran territories) with "no loyalties to any foreign state or organization" (e.g., no double citizenship) who is at least 25 years old, a resident of the Kingdom for at least 10 consecutive years or 14 years with 7 years in a "consecutive fashion", and been free of conviction and punishment for a felon crime for 20 years and 5–15 years of all other crimes. If a citizen is naturalized, they must be a citizen of the Kingdom for at least 15 years.
Since the foundation of Sierra, although never mentioned in the Constitution, candidates for the Prime Ministry must seek nomination from one of the many political parties in Sierra. All of the major parties use primary elections to determine the candidate that they will nominate to represent their party. The primaries are generally indirect elections where participating voters from each second-level administrative division in Sierra cast ballots for party delegates pledged to a specific candidate. The prime ministerial primary season for the 2016 election began in February starting with the Central Valley caucus on February 2, and will formally conclude for all major parties by June 7. At the end of the primary season, all of the parties hold a national convention where party leaders and delegates convene to vote for a candidate to nominate. Unlike the primaries, the general election in October is nationwide (and does not include residents of unincorporated territory) and direct, with raw popular vote soley used to determine the winner.
The incumbent, Prime Minister Steven Hong, a Democratic-Republican and former Governor of the Gold Coast, has sought his second reelection. As there is no provision in the Constitution or any other law that imposes term limits on individuals holding the office of the Prime Minister, Hong's bid for a third term is permitted although only one Prime Minister (Kirk Siskind) in Sierran history has ever successfully gone into a third term.
Hong was first elected as Prime Minister in 2008, defeating then-incumbent Prime Minister and Royalist nominee Matthew Braggs and Libertarian nominee Joshua Kirkland with 54% of the popular vote, succeeding his electoral rival and the two-term Royalist Prime Minister Braggs. Upon inauguration, Hong became the first Korean Sierran, the second Asian Sierran, the fifth Gold Coaster, the seventh former governor, and the twelfth Democratic-Republican to serve as Prime Minister. Should Hong serve the remainder of his term and lose the nomination or general election, the next Prime Minister will become the 23rd Prime Minister of Sierra.
2010 midterm elections[edit | edit source]
During the 2010 elections, the Conservative coalition (consisting of the Royalist and Libertarian parties) gained six seats in the House of Commons, seizing control of the chamber over the Progressive coalition (consisting of the Democratic-Republicans, Greens, and Social Democrats). In the Senate, the Conservatives gained two seats short of obtaining a majority. The shift to the Conservatives under Hong's administration was largely attributed to the lagging recovery from the 2008 financial crisis and opposition to the administration's efforts to expand healthcare and Social Security.
2012 prime ministerial elections[edit | edit source]
In the 2012 elections, Hong ran for a second term and gained the Democratic-Republican nomination virtually uncontested, allowing Hong to focus specifically against competing with the Royalist and Libertarian nominees (Paul Roemmer (R) and Ryan Porter (L) respectively). Hong narrowly placed first in the election on October 16, 2012, ahead of Roemmer by almost 1%, forcing a runoff election the following day, beating Roemmer by 0.4% in one of the closest races in Sierran electoral history.
In the same general elections, the Conservative coalition maintained their control over the House of Commons with minor losses while the Senate saw no net change in party composition, allowing the Senate to remain under the control of the Progressive coalition.
2014 midterm elections[edit | edit source]
The elections saw one of the lowest turnouts in Sierran history, and resulted in no net change in either of the houses, allowing the Conservatives to retain their majority in the House whilst the Progressives in the Senate.
Democratic-Republican Party[edit | edit source]
Incumbent Prime Minister Steven Hong was the first Democratic-Republican to announce their candidacy for the prime ministry, and made an official announcement in a speech on February 27, 2015. Nationwide opinion polls indicated that public approval had declined sharply during the second half of Hong's second ministry, in large part due to slow economic recovery and several administration-related scandals. San Francisco Governor Terry Scott became the second Democratic-Republican to announce their intention to run for nomination on March 18, 2015. Former Santa Clara Senator Anais Patel was the third major Democratic-Republican to enter the run, joining in on May 13, 2015, followed by Laguna Senator Joe Rapoport on June 1, 2015. San Jose Mayor Bobby Ziyar was the last major Democratic-Republican candidate to enter, doing so on June 2, 2015. On October 13, 2015, following the first Democratic-Republican debate the night before, Patel withdrew from the race, urging voters to select the candidate who had the "best interests in preserving democracy and fairness". During the Central Valley caucus, Hong won with 34% of the votes, ahead of his closest contender, Terry Scott who had 31%, followed by Rapoport with 24%. Ziyar dropped out, and endorsed Terry Scott for prime minister during his withdrawal speech. Scott won San Joaquin with fifty-eight percent compared to Hong with twenty nine and Rapoport with thirteen. In the province of the Gold Coast, Hong's home province, Hong secured sixty eight percent of voters over Scott's eighteen and Rapoport's fourteen.
Nominee[edit | edit source]
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terry Scott | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
(2010–present)
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former major candidates[edit | edit source]
- Bobby Ziyar: Mayor of San Jose (2012–present). Suspended campaign on February 2, 2016.
- Anais Patel: Former K.S. senator from Santa Clara. Suspended campaign on October 13, 2015.
- Joe Rapoport: Former K.S. senator from Laguna. Suspended campaign on April 28, 2016.
- Steven Hong: Prime Minister of Sierra (2008-2016). Assassinated; posthumously suspended campaign through Preston Bolivar on August 12, 2016.
Former Senator Joe Rapoport of Laguna
Prime Minister Steven Hong of Sierra
Royalist Party[edit | edit source]
Nominee[edit | edit source]
 |
|---|
| Daniel McComb |
 |
 |
Former candidates[edit | edit source]
- Mark Sandstrom: K.S. Senator from Wasatch (2006–present). Suspended campaign on May 12, 2016.
Senator Mark Sandstrom of Wasatch
Libertarian Party[edit | edit source]
Nominee[edit | edit source]
 |
|---|
| Ryan Porter |
 |
2012 Libertarian Party PM Nominee
K.S. Commoner from Maricopa's 4th parliamentary district (2008–present) |
Former candidates[edit | edit source]
- Emily Malkus: Chairwoman of the National Liberty and Reason Caucus (2008–present)
- Porter Offerman: K.S. Senator from Clark (2010–present)
Chairwoman Emily Malkus of the National Liberty and Reason Caucus
Senator Porter Offerman of Clark
Party conventions[edit | edit source]
Communist Party
- May 14–16, 2016: San Francisco City, San Francisco
Democratic-Republican Party
- June 7–9, 2016: Bernheim, San Joaquin
Green Party
- June 7–9, 2016: Eureka, Plumas
Libertarian Party
- June 7–9, 2016: Riverside, Inland Empire
Royalist Party
- June 7–9, 2016: Santa Barbara, Kings
Social Democrats
- June 10–13, 2016: Oakland, Santa Clara
Debates[edit | edit source]
| No. | Date | Time | Host | City | Moderator | Participants | Broadcaster | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PM1 | August 8, 2016
|
7:30 PM (PST)
|
University of Santa Clara, San Jose
|
San Jose, Santa Clara | Camelia Huang
|
||||||||||||||||
| DPM | August 15, 2016 (Cancelled)
|
7:30 PM (PST)
|
Stanford, Santa Clara | Morris Long
|
|||||||||||||||||
| PM2 | September 22, 2016 (Cancelled))
|
6:30 PM (PST)
|
Las Vegas, Clark | Peter Clarkson
|
|||||||||||||||||
| PM3 | October 3, 2016
|
6:30 PM (PST)
|
Porciúncula, Gold Coast | Kaitlyn Sharp
|
|||||||||||||||||
| PM4 | October 10, 2016
|
6:30 PM (PST)
|
Ulysses Perry Prime Ministerial Library | Bernheim, San Joaquin | Arnie Monrovia
|
||||||||||||||||
| University of Inland Empire, Riverside and Plumas Provincial University, Chico were selected as the backup debate locations. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sponsored by the Prime Ministerial Election Debates Authority (Only candidates from the following parties: Democratic-Republican, Green, Libertarian, Royalist, and Social Democrats, AND polled 10% or higher on 5 major polls by the day of a particular debate were allowed stage access.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Assassination of Steven Hong[edit | edit source]
On August 12th, 2016 at the Old Sycamore Courthouse, Juno, Plumas, Steven Hong hosting a press conference with members of the Democratic-Republican Party as part of his campaign tour following the first debate. During the conference, Hong was answering questions when a 27 year old man by the name of Dylan Coulter stood up and asked "Your Excellency, as a Democratic-Republican, what have you done to end the tyranny that is the monarchy?". Hong answered Coulter saying that he viewed the monarchy as a legitimate institution that was supported by the majority of the Sierran people, but was supportive of cultural republicanism. Coulter was told to sit down, but he didn't and took out a handgun and shot Hong in the abdomen and injured both Carson Davis and Allison Perry in the process before he was apprehended and arrested.
The assassination shocked the nation and put the election on hold with Deputy Prime Minister Preston Bolivar taking over as acting Prime Minister until he election was completed. The following two debates that were scheduled to be held at Stanford University on August 15th and at the university of Clark on September 22nd were cancelled and an emergency vote was held to succeeded Hong as the Democratic-Republican nominee. Terry Scott was ultimately elected as the nominee and was present at the last two debates from October 3rd to October 10th, 2016. Both events happened following the state funeral for Steven Hong whose death was labeled "a national tragedy and an unsealable wound for the party" according spokesmen for the Democratic-Republican Party.
Effect on the election[edit | edit source]
Since the end of the election, many have debated the idea of the "Coulter Effect", the claim that Coulter's decision to assassinate Hong costed Scott and the Democratic-Republican Party the election due to his ties to dissident republicanism, a movement of radical republicanism that's been active and increasing in size and presence in the Styxie since the late 2000s. Many argue that the lack of action by the Democratic-Republican Party in the Styxie provinces towards the dissidents made them look weak on the issue of domestic terrorism while many monarchists have argued that the Coulter Effect exposed the "true roots of radical republicanism and the dangers of the Styxie, a region held by the party" and this in term lead to the Royalist victory in the election.