Conservatives Target Wellington Governor's Race

New polls show tight race between NAT incumbent, CNS challenger

STARKSMIN, Wellington--Just eight days before the midterm elections, the Conservative Governors' Association (CGA) is investing major resources in a race it once counted out.

The CGA is targeting the Wellington governor's race between incumbent Nationalist Pierre Carten and CNS challenger Craig Thoyer.

First elected in 2008 in a special election, Carten (pronounced "Car-tain"), 32, was widely popular. A moderate, the youthful Carten was viewed as one of the few Nationalists in the state that could bring compromise and civility to the often divisive political climate in Wellington.

Carten easily defeated Conservative businessman Bill Santoya in the 2008 election. Now the governor, and his lieutenant, former Rep. Joe Carlin, are facing an unexpectedly close race for re-election.

Thoyer (pronounced "Toy-er"), and his running mate Liz McKinn (C-Hollam) were not expected to present a strong challenge to the once-popular Carten/Carlin ticket. But recent polls suggest the businessman and state senator team are edging closer.

A Prairie Stats poll released last Thursday shows Thoyer and McKinn with 45% to 47% for Carten and Carlin. A NationVoice poll released Monday shows Thoyer trailing Carten by three points.

Those close poll numbers have emboldened Conservative Party leaders, who previously brushed off a Thoyer victory as impossible. The party is now taking a second look and has already dropped $300,000 of additional money into the race, with an another money bomb of $450,000 to $500,000 possible.

It's all apart of the party's strategy to maintain its majority of governors' seats.

"The race in Wellington is crucial to us and we need to do everything we can to ensure that a victory comes out of the prairie state," Gov. Donna Almone (C-POG), head of the CGA, told the National Press Federation (NPF).

But Nationalists are scrambling to defend Carten, whose popularity has plummeted largely due to Wellington's poor economy and high unemployment rate.

The party has allocated an extra $480,000 to help defend Carten, and has dispatched East Deschire Gov. Lynn DeMont and Trinton Gov. Mark De Auonne to campaign for the beleaguered incumbent in the final week of the election.

The two candidates themselves seem confident.

Last week at a press conference at a sandwich bistro in Lunden Plains, Carten told supporters Conservatives "cannot take away the progress we've made," and warned of a possible over-confidence within the Thoyer campaign.

"These guys are so desperate to be elected, I think they're really over-selling themselves and maybe a little too confident," Carten said.

Unsurprisingly, Thoyer's campaign sees it differently.

"All the polls show this race tightening, with Pierre Carten falling out of the lead and Craig Thoyer headed to victory," campaign spokesman Jay Donahue said. "Election day will tell the final chapter in this race."

Both candidates are tirelessly hitting the campaign trail, with the governor targeting the western and southern parts of the state in the final days. Thoyer will be focusing his attention on the suburbs of Starksmin, the state's largest city, and in the eastern part of the state.

Almone Will Not Seek Second Term As Chair of Governors' Board

POG gov. says she wants to spend more time in her home state

LANSDALE, Province of Grassadellia--Regardless of which party wins a majority of governorships after the December 4 elections, there will be a new Chair of the Governors' Board.

Current chair, Gov. Donna Almone (C-POG), announced Tuesday she will not seek a second term as chair if the Conservative Party maintains its majority of governorships.

Almone said she will be stepping down regardless of the outcome of the elections because she wants to spend more time in her state.

"It has been an honor to serve as chair, but it's a huge responsibility and a huge time commitment," Almone said at a press conference at the capitol. "[Over] the last two years, I have spent a great deal of time outside of POG tending to national matters in my capacity as chair, and I feel that, for my second term, if I am re-elected [as governor of POG], I would like to spend more time here in POG."

Almone added that the recent loss of her husband of 31 years, Bill, played a part in her decision.

"I've been through a lot in my professional life and in my personal life lately, and I think it would be best for me to re-focus my attention solely to the state of POG," she said. "I want to stay here where I'm surrounded by friends and family as opposed to a busy traveling schedule."

Almone's announcement set off a buzz Tuesday, as political analysts speculated about possible successors. The most-mentioned names on the Conservative side are Damoign Gov. Sid Hoffa and Armana Gov. Dale Fulbright.

Several names have been thrown out for the NAT, including current chair of the Nationalist Governors' Association (NATGA) Gov. Lynn DeMont (E. Deschire), as well as Ceona Gov. Christine Gabler, Trinton Gov. Mark De Auonne and Veroche Gov. Linda Van Auhn.

The Chair of the Governors' Board, often simply called the "Governor General," is chosen based on which party holds a majority of the nation's 19 governorships. Then, the governors of the majority party elect their leader.

If both parties evenly split the number of governorships, the majority is given to the party which holds the majority in the Federal Senate.

Currently, there are nine Nationalist and nine Conservative governors. Because the Conservative Party holds a one-seat majority in the Senate, a CNS governor was chosen to serve as Governor General.

There are only 18 governorships in the current session because the newly-created state of Ansleigha is not factored in. In the 2010 session, Ansleigha's addition will mean a 19-member governors' board, making an outright tie between the parties impossible, unless a third party candidate wins, in which case the balance of power would once again fall to which party has the majority in the Senate.

Donna Almone has served as Governor General since January 2008. She is the first female Governor General in Grassadellian history.

Administration Eyes Uninhabited Island For Future Immigration Detention Site

Menuhaeo administration sees Gerber Island as detention site

MAVOCKE--A small island off the coast of Damoign may be a viable location for an immigration detention center, according to National Security Secretary Michelle Gates.

Gerber Island, a Grassadellian territory about 130 miles northwest of Harvannah and about 210 miles off the mainland coast, is being seen as a prospective location for an immigration detention facility. If built, the facility would temporarily house "dangerous persons seeking to enter the country," many of whom are on the federal government's "no-fly" list, until they are deported back to their home countries.

Gates told the NPF Tuesday the island would house only people who are "extremely dangerous," and are actively trying to "smuggle their way into the country."

"The people that will be housed at this facility, if it is built, are people that are extremely dangerous and threaten the security and safety of our country," Gates said. "These are individuals who have known terrorist connections, or who have a history of violent or widespread crime in Grassadellia and surrounding allied nations."

The island is currently uninhabitated, although government activity has been ongoing on the island for decades.

The federal government has been seeking to construct an immigration detention center for years, but has lacked a location and at times, support in Congress.

If the facility is given the go-ahead by Congress and President Brenton Menuhaeo, it would house approximately 50 to 100 detainees, with the possibility of adding on to the facility if conditions merit additional room.

"Gerber Island is a suitable location geologically, because it is a stable island and sits on solid ground as opposed to wetlands or marsh," Environmental Affairs Secretary Steven McIntosh told the NPF.

Gates said the island is ideal because located within Grassadellian waters, and is large enough to house the facility, staff housing, and a water port and air strip.

But critics warn the island could become the next Guantanamo Bay, and could be used by the government as a prison used for illegal detention of immigrants and other persons.

Sen. Dick Ammons (C-HVN) told the GBC he is skeptical the island will be used simply as a detention site for legitimate persons of reasonable suspicion.

"What I'm concerned about is possible abuses of this system," Ammons said. "This could really be an open door to corruption and abuse of prisoners and illegal detentions."

Sen. Victoria Albright (C-CEA), who chairs the Senate National Security Committee, said she cautiously supports the proposal, but wants to have further inquiries done before bringing it up for a vote in the committee.

"I, personally, support the construction of a site, because we need something to deal with these sorts of people who are seeking entry into the country," Albright told GNN. "But we need to have more hearings, more expert testimony, and we need some form of strict oversight that will help keep the light shined on this program."

The Grassadellian Human Rights Council (GHRC) has already protested the proposal, and says it will mobilize its supporters to oppose the project as well.

"This will rapidly turn into an outright abuse and denial of basic human rights," said Martha Ann Calloway, president of the GHRC. "The notion that the Grassadellian government will build something that is basically equivalent to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba is outrageous."

Sen. Grace Kemp (N-TRI), who is up for re-election this year, is adamantly opposed to the project.

"Are we really going to let our government detain people and hold them in a prison cell just like George Bush did with Guantanamo? If our government does this, we are going to lose all respect in the international community," Kemp said in a recent appearance on GNN's Talking Points cable program.

Immigration groups are split on the issue. The Beacon Foundation, which supports less restricted immigration, has condemned the idea of a detention site, calling the project "offensive even in the proposal stages."

But the National Center for Responsible Immigration Policies (NCRIP), a group that advocates more restricted immigration, has called the idea "good," but cautions more information is needed before a decision can be reached.

"We feel very strongly that our country needs a facility where dangerous immigrants that threaten national security can reside temporarily," says Beth Iandman, a spokeswoman for NCRIP. "But there are a lot of things that need to be ironed out before this project gets our OK."

Public Lands Secretary Tom Etheridge and Attorney General John Huuvanna are working jointly with Secretaries Gates and McIntosh on the proposal. It's unclear, as of now, who any co-sponsors in the bodies may be.

Rep. Clay Aioki (C-DES), who chairs the National Assembly's Immigration and Entry Committee, says his committee will hold hearings on the matter in the next two weeks.