The 2350 Presidential Election

The 2350 Federated States Presidential election was a major election. It was fourth full election.

Background
In 2345, Governor Cameron Vessey (AIS) was elected President of the Federated States. His administration, supported by the right-wing TPE and the left wing UP took power in a worsening foreign policy situation and a tricky economic one.

President Vessey managed to forestall a war by signing a military alliance with the Vatu Empire. He also cut costs by reducing social welfare in the core systems, a very unpopular decision. He also signed a historic trade deal with the corporations, allowing them to trade in Dhaugosk Space.

Going into 2350, his Presidency was divisive and unpopular in the core-worlds. The growing popularity of the far-left Universal Party saw them polling consistently 2nd or 3rd.

Candidates
President Vessey announced in 2349 that he would seek a second term. Going into the 2350 AIS convention, he was heavily favored for re-election but there was some talk that perhaps Vice President Ebbert Keever would be dropped from the ticket.

The Federalist Party had bounced back well from its 2345 defeat. Former Attorney General Maya Abbot was the consensus choice for the Federalists despite her status as a centrist. Maya had done well during the last five years to build her profile and she had made a deal with former Secretary of Defence Tailor Rishi to unite the two wings of the Party.

The Universal Party, enjoying historic high polling going into 2350, were expected to nominate former union lawyer Cartright Baines. However at the UP Convention in 2350 they instead nominated 42 year old former journalist Deputy Cammy Thurman. The young, telegenic deputy nominated party grandee Jonas de Bruyne as her running mate.

The Earth-Guard announced, thanks to strong fund-raising and improving polls, that Senator Vane Ricker would seek the Presidency. However the Earth-Guard looked very unlikely to get far with barely 5% of the vote going into the ballot.

The conservative TPE Party nominated their powerful and acerbic floor-leader Senator Embeth Gorlitz for President. Polling showed her with little chance of winning and most pundits believed that she would make a deal with the AIS again.

The Progressive Union, Wellfield Alliance and the New Horizon Party's all announced that they would not seek the Presidency.

The First Ballot
There was much speculation heading into the first ballot about the expected strong performance from the Universal Party. However a deal was cut between the Universal Party and the Federalist Party which saw the Universal Party drop out and endorse the Federalists. The Federalist Party promised strong support for social welfare programs.

The AIS and the TPE cut their usual deal with Senator Gorlitz dropping out in return for cabinet spots and a promise not to reduce military spending.

The Wellfield Alliance made a deal to support the Federalist Party in return for a promise not to cut military spending. The Progressive Union also made a deal with the Federalist Party.

The New Horizon Party endorsed the AIS despite their concerns over military spending.

Despite lethargic polling, Earth-Guard refused to drop out and contested the first ballot.

A huge amount of money was raised and spent. The Federalist ticket spent A$2.1B on the campaign and the AIS spent nearly A$5B. This huge amount of money spent was widely decried, especially by the Progressive Union who saw it as wasteful.

The polls closed showing a tight race. In the end the AIS came in first with 44% off the vote. The Federalist's came second with 41% of the vote and Earth-Guard got 4%.

Senator Ricker dropped out and encouraged his supporters to vote AIS. President Vessey then distanced himself from the Earth-Guard endorsement

The Second Ballot
The straight up ballot between the Federalist's and the AIS saw a late round of fund-raising and spending but most of the money that could be spent had already been spent. As the polls closed, most pundits predicted a narrow AIS win: Therefore President Vessey had secured a second term
 * 1) President Cameron Vessey (AIS) -45%
 * 2) Maya Abbot (FED) -42%

The New Administration
The Vessey administration returned to office and the cabinet, as per convention, resigned so the President could appoint a new one. Rising star in the TPE Senator Marius Axxelson was given the role of Attorney General. Otherwise the AIS had a free hand to appoint its cabinet.

However they struggled to form a ruling coalition after a weaker than expected performance in the Senate. In the end Prime Minister Moatt was able to take office with a minority in the Senate, getting support from other party's on a vote by vote basis.

Previous Election: the 2345 Presidential Election

Next Election: the 2355 Presidential Election