FORT COLINS, MANARA – On May 4th, 2021, around 780 thousand people will be eligible to vote for the Governorship of Manara. The incumbent governor is of the progressive Manara Party, and has enacted many a thing for the state, including signing the Manara Free Health Act in 2013, raising the minimum wage from FS$15.00 (US$11.14) an hour to FS$27.00 (US$20.06) an hour, which raised the 52-week 40-hour income to almost FS$54,000 a year (US$41,000), up from FS$23,171.20 per year (US$31,179.20), legalizing marijuana in the Cannabis Act of 2016, and namely passing the Second Manara Education Act, which made ages 17-22 free of tuition.
However, Korr had said over a week ago that he did not seek a 3rd term in the Manaran Governorship. He will be the 8th different governor to serve 8 years if he fulfills the remainder of his term. Manara has had 3 different 3 term governors, those being Ryan Smith getting his 3rd term in 1845, Jacob Smith-Rivera getting his third term in 1941, and Ezekiel Linton, getting his 3rd term in 2009. The latter has served 15 years in the Manara Governor’s Mansion, having served from 1994-1997 after taking over from the late Chad Boone, and from 2001-2013 after defeating incumbent Kyle Thornton to the office. Linton is the only Tarephian-American governor to date.
All hope is not lost for the Manaran people. While there are still a large sum of options remaining, the Manara Party has not put anyone forward yet. However, that changed this afternoon. At 10:30 Western Federal Time (WT +9), John Korr and Jason Smith held a rally. There, Smith announced his candidacy for the Manara Party Nomination, being the first candidate to do so. At his rally, he had exclaimed “Manara’s gonna get another 4 years of greatness, mark my words.” Smith said he supported continuing to expand the Manara Free Health Act and raising minimum wages even further. Smith pledged to reduce carbon emissions in Manara, something that Korr failed to do in his 8 years. Despite being his “tutor” of sorts, Korr said in a press conference that he “[did] not plan on helping [Smith] with his campaign” and that he “had something else [he was] working on”. When asked to elaborate Korr declined to respond.
Initial polls have the Lieutenant Governor a solid 44 points above his only opponent, Secretary of Education Floyd Dickman. In the Liberal Party, State Senator Marlon Cross enjoys a comparable lead against Mayor Wickham and Senator Piersen, 45 points. Marlon Cross and Jason Smith are comparable on a multitude of issues, but where they stand apart on is legalizing tolls in Manara. In 2008, Fort Colins had signed a local-level law banning “charging fees for transportation”, i.e. toll roads, passenger rail, and airline fees, with the exception that “unless the fee is going to a driver directly”. Monabad and Eau Sable would follow in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Senator Marlon Cross stated at a campaign rally that he “would not touch [tolls]”, while Smith claimed that “the people who work [for toll companies] ought to be paid somehow”. Recent polling shows that this stance had improved Cross’s polling, but not hurting Smith’s.
Luckily, if you are rather right winged, there aren’t just two parties, there are two more. In the Libertarian Party, Mayor Dallas Christensen of Suenugan Courthouse has a comfortable 22 point lead over Businessman Franklin Pryor, and Businessman Jeffery Dennis holds an uncontested lead in the Conservative Party. However, all eyes are on the Liberals, who have a high chance of winning the election with their 268,157 registered Liberals, or >34% of the State’s adults, and the Manara Party, who have an equally high chance to win with their incumbency and trust in the current Governor. In the event of a runoff, which goes to the House and Senate, the Manara Party has the largest alliance in both houses, being the leader of the Government Alliance, so it is more likely than not that we can see another Forr of “Korr”.
