US Gubernatorial Races – 2018

Gubernatorial – 2018

With 36 state governorships up for election this year, there are many opportunities for Jay Inslee’s Democratic Governors Association to add to their membership. Members of Bill Haslam’s Republican Governor’s Association will be primarily on the defense, but there may be opportunities for the Republicans to flip a few races as well. Will the Democrats ride a “blue wave” into the governorships of these states, or will this “blue wave” fizzle out and enable the Republicans to retain control of these states before redistricting in 2020?

NB. While this is obviously not true to how gubernatorial races work in real life, I thought that it would be a neat idea to develop a scenario of this sort. If people enjoy it, I may do other cycles.

Republic of Albia – State Elections – 2019

Republic of Albia- State Elections 2019

After working on this hobby of mine for the past 12 years, I am proud to present the first campaign for the Republic of Albia (ROA) to be released publicly! The ROA is a fictional country located on the continent of Acadia in the Atlantic ocean.  There are five parties in the ROA, and they are:

 

  • Hawk Party of Albia (HPA)
    • The current “big-tent” party.  The HPA has a plurality of registered voters.  It can be divided into four main factions:  Libertarian and libertarian leaning, Northern Conservatives, Southern Conservatives and Moderates.  Northern Conservatives tend to focus on conservative economic policy, while Southern Conservatives tend to focus on social conservative policy.  N. Cons are moderately conservative on foreign policy while SoCons are very conservative on foreign policy.  The Hawk Party has held the Presidency for the past 12 years, winning four consecutive elections.  They have held the Senate since 2009, and the Assembly of the People from 2011-2019.
  • Dove Party of Albia (DPA)
    • The Dove Party of Albia is made up of mostly moderate and progressive voters.  There are smaller factions of socialists and left-leaning libertarians, and even some conservative voters.  The party is more divided along ideological lines than regional lines.  It is the second largest party in the Republic.  With four consecutive national elections losses, it is a party looking for its identity.  They captured the Assembly in 2018 for the first time since 2009.
  • Albian Independent Party (AIP)
    • The AIP is the largest third party in the Republic and was formed in 2000.  It has an almost uniformly moderate platform, and it often runs candidates in almost every state. In 2016, the AIP nominated former Hawk Governor turned AIP Senator Alex Hardy of Tolova and had their most successful candidate ever.  Hardy won 557,759 votes, or 5.9%, of the national popular vote, the most successful run by a third party candidate post-Military Party era (Hardy did not win any electoral votes though.)  Hardy even managed to win the 2nd largest county by population in the Republic.  Hardy lost re-election to the Senate in 2018, and the once bright future of the party is now very much in doubt.  The AIP has ballot access in most states.
  • Albian Libertarian Party (ALP)
    • The ALP is the third oldest party in the ROA, formed in 1971 in response to potential military intervention in the Vorga region.  The ALP professes a strict libertarian philosophy, advocating for peace, small government and liberal social positions.  The party’s stance in favor of abortion rights and legalizing drugs has long plagued the party from gaining traction with the mainstream (the ROA is one of the more religious countries in the world.)  The party has had minimal success at the national level, despite the libertarian swing of the past decade.  It has had the most success in the rural and isolated state of New Pur in the state’s territorial days.  However, since statehood, the party has not won a state or federal election.  It has some ballot access, but still has a long way to go.
  • Tree Party of Albia (TPA)
    • The TPA was formed in 2009 in response to the growing threat of global warming.  The party platform calls for “a radical plan to greatly alter the trajectory of the Albian social and economic track to a more ecologically-friendly destination.”  While starting out as a single-issue party, it has now branched out into other issues.  The TPA platform now calls for the legalization of marijuana and strong restrictions on gun rights.  Despite its short history, the TPA has had a moderate amount of impact at the Presidential level as a third party.  In 2012 and 2016, the party nominated former Dove Congresswoman Cynthia Carlson as the party nominee.  While not gaining much national success, Carlson captured 15% of the vote in her home state.  This was enough to swing the state to then-Governor and Hawk Party nominee Timothy Hissenger.  Hissenger, thus, winning the 2012 election.  The TPA is currently the smallest party in the ROA and it has the least amount of ballot access nationwide.

In this scenario, you play as the chair of the campaign committee of your respective party to get candidates elected to statewide office in the states of Weers, Cheroka, Zaracona, Musca, Liptona, Tobosa and Prescott.  I have included in the .zip folder a Word document briefly detailing each Gubernatorial race.  I have devised a system of deciding primaries to decide who all the candidates were for each race.  This is my first campaign released publicly, and I usually only spacebar through the campaign to get the results as the “None of the Above” ballot option.  I have never played this campaign as one of the parties, so any feedback as to how I can make this better is welcome.  I am currently working on the 2020 elections, and I hope to release the Presidential Election in the next few months.  2020 will include the Presidential Election, State Elections, Assembly Elections and Senate Elections.  I may also release the previous 2018 and 2016 campaigns in the near future.

Please let me know what you think!  I sincerely hope you enjoy!