21 March 2023
Yesterday, the Ministry of Elections officially allowed citizens of Phillip to register their candidacy for multiple non-Presidential offices. These offices include the Governors and National Assembly members of the soon-to-be-established administrative regions. The Regional Restructuring Act that passed in early march allowed residents of a region to elect their governor, which was previously a position appointed by the President. According to bill author Cooper Norfolk, governors were made into public office because he wanted to "allow residents of the new regions to be represented by someone that they trust." Another effect of the Regional Restructuring Act is a small change in the seating chart of the National Assembly. Currently, the National Assembly consists of ten seats, one from each of the eight districts, one from each of the territories, and the Representative of Commerce. This new Assembly structure will consist of two seats from each region, except for the Alemana Region. When writing the bill, Rep. Norfolk believed that the region would have too small a population to need a second seat. Along with the territories seat and the Representative of Commerce, the new Assembly will have a total of nine seats.
Most of the non-presidential elections aren't expected to be super competitive, as in most cases it's quite clear that the candidate with the most popularity will win. But there are two elections that at this time don't have a clear outcome, the first of which is the National Assembly Representative of the Territories. Anyone, regardless of residency, is eligible to run for this office, making it a highly sought-after position by those who want power in the Assembly. So far, six citizens have registered to run for the seat, which is the most candidates that have ever run for a public office in Phillip's electoral history. Incumbent Rep. Cooper Norfolk has announced that he is running for re-election, but has doubts that he's going to win.
The second election without a clear winner is Port Phillip's gubernatorial election. There are currently two candidates running for the office: current President Jaxson Renny and Minister Riley Cook. While there are fewer candidates in this election compared to the Assembly Territories seat, it could potentially go in the favor of either candidate. Despite not running for a second term as President, Renny has maintained his popularity and plans on using that to win multiple offices in the Port Phillip Region. While Renny is extremely popular in Phillip as a whole, Minister Cook has a decent amount of support from his own political party within Port Phillip. Due to the competetive nature of this election, it seems like the winner is going to come down to whoever galvanizes their voters to vote for them the most.
Below is a list of all the offices going through an election and their current candidates:
Gubernatorial:
Governor of Port Phillip
Jaxson Renny (BBB)
Riley Cook (CP)
Governor of Greater Lukous
Cooper, Norfolk (I)
Ben Fitzgibbins (BBB)
Governor of North Phillip
Madison Marcos (RS)
Iyan Seeker (BBB)
Governor of Alemana
Owen Itzen (LNL)
National Assembly
Jaxson Renny (BBB)
Riley Cook (CP)
Greater Lukous Seat No.
Reed Von (FUFP)
Cooper, Norfolk (I)
Greater Lukous Seat #2
Reed Von (FUFP)
Cooper, Norfolk (I)
Iyan Seeker (BBB)
Madison Marcos (RS)
Alemana Seat #1
Owen Itzen (LNL)
Territories seat
Cooper, Norfolk (I)
Iyan Seeker (BBB)
Jaxson Renny (BBB)
Madison Marcos (RS)
Riley Cook (CP)
Reed Von (FUFP)
In total, seven citizens have launched their candidacies across ten different offices. Many political experts in Phillip are predicting the Butter Butta Bentley could potentially hold a simple majority in the National Assembly. They haven't had full control over the National Assembly since the pre-PNF era, in which they controlled four out of seven seats. Many more candidates are expected to launch candidacies for many of these offices, but for now it seems like most of those interested have put out their tickets.