Addelson Holds On In Special Senate Election

Nationalist senator holds off insurgent conservative opponent

DASH KNOLL, Deschire--Incumbent Sen. Jhinny Addelson (NAT) has hung on to secure a second term in the Senate.

With 97 per cent of precincts reporting, Addelson led Conservative Congressman Clay Aioki by a margin of 51-49 per cent.

Addelson briefly spoke at her campaign celebration in the city of Dash Knoll in northwestern Deschire, telling supporters today's vote was "a re-affirmation of the work we've been doing in Mavocke."

Aioki also spoke to his supporters in Berivian, telling the crowd that the people of Deschire were "hungry for change" but the special election dampened voter turn-out.

"I'm confident that if the election would have been held on election day with every other race, we would have been victorious," Aioki said. "But the people have spoken in this special election, and we respect the will of the people."

The two were competing in a special election, making Addelson's seat the last to be called in the 2010 elections.

Addelson's victory now gives the Nationalists a majority in the Senate. The party will now hold 46 seats to the Conservatives' 44. The Democratic-Reformist Party also holds 3 seats, while two seats are held by Independents.

That means the NAT can now proceed with forming leadership in the upper house, something it had previously been unable to do because of the almost evenly-split numbers in the Senate.