4125 Election. Results and analysisJanuary 4125Presidential ElectionFirst roundMark Paulson (LDP) - 32,42%
Paul Grigaitis (NFU) - 30,77%
(incumbent) Colt Craft (RWM) - 24,67% (Endorsed by SDA)
Preth Keiston (UFI) - 12,1%
Political commentators analysis: The result of the first round in the presidential election is quite interesting, for starters it's somewhat rare to see the incumbent president be beaten in the first round. Colt Craft received 38,87% the first round in the last election (4123) which means that he lost 14,2% even with and early endorsement from SDA. There are many possible explanations to why that happened, but my theory is that Craft lost some votes due to the fact that he's been a part of the ruling establishment, which usually hurts a candidate in elections where there are many newcomers. That in combination with more center leaning voters leaving Colt for a more centrist candidate such as Mark Paulson. However what might be even more interesting is how Mark Paulson, a 37 years old newcomer that has never held elected office won the first round. An explanation to that might be that many voters liked the idea of a centrist and pragmatic presidential candidate in contrast to the very radical ideological candidates that they've had do choose between before.
Second RoundMark Paulson (LDP) 55,13%
Paul Grigaitis (NFU) 44,87%
Political commentators analysis: The second round were, given the circumstances, less interesting. Since it was between Paulson, a centrist and a Grigaitis, an outspoken fascist. Paulson most likely received both the centrist votes and most of the leftist ones aswell, while Grigaitis got the voters to the right. In the end Paulson won with a reassuring 10,3% lead.
Election for the National People's Congress Votes - Seats
NFU - 31,21% - 127 (+1)
SDA - 21,93% - 87 (New)
LDP - 18,96% - 76 (New)
RWM - 18,84% - 75 (-82)
UFI - 9,06% - 35 (-82)
Political commentators analysis: The two newcomers received an impressing 40,9% of the popular vote and a total of 163 congressional seats, while both RWM and especially UFI lost large portions of their earlier voters. All while NFU practically stood still, they gained one extra seat but lost 0.5% of the popular vote compared to last election. I would say that it's quite obvious that a large portion of Telamons voters longed for a change, and that's why the two new parties drained so many voters from the old ruling coalition. SDA most likely received a large portion of their voters from RWM, while LDP gained voters from UFI.
Mark Paulson, new president of Telamon!Mark Paulson greeting the crowd during election night, just before his speechMy dear friends, we won! The people of Telamon has spoken, they want a pragmatic government that takes responsibility, and that is what we will give them! I want to thank every single one of you, for campaigning vigorously the past few weeks, it's thanks to your efforts that we stand victorious here today! We have an exciting time ahead of us, Telamon is in dire need of change after the past decades of totalitarianism. So naturally the first order of the day will be to keep the fascists out of government and out of political influence, and for that we need a grand democratic coalition, I urge my fellow centrist and leftists colleagues in congress to unite and vote in favor of the new cabinet that has been put forth by SDA. When we have secured a new grand coalition and secured Telamons political stability, only then can we move forward and create a free and equal country, for all!