BIRCH HOLLOW, East Deschire -- After a state judge's ruling yesterday that declared Nationalist Donna Rae Cobb the victor in East Deschire's three-way Senate race, the two Conservatives candidates blamed each other for being the spoiler candidate.
Denna Halitz, who was the incumbent when the race began, blamed her far-right opponent, former Sen. Nancy Lindselli, for losing what should have been an easy victory for the CNS party.
"If she (Lindselli) would have just let me run and not targeted me for defeat in the primary, I would have gone on to win comfortably in the general election," Halitz said in a Mavocke interview with the National Radio Broadcasters. "But instead she insisted on declaring war on me, a fellow Conservative, and that resulted in the Nationalist party winning and the Conservative party losing a seat it should have never lost."
A moderate, Halitz was favored to retain her seat in the general election. But Lindselli, who is far more conservative, challenged Halitz for the CNS nomination.
After several recounts, Lindselli was declared the winner of the primary, knocking Halitz out of the race.
However, in a surprise twist, Halitz announced she would continue her campaign into the general election as an Independent candidate - an uphill climb for any politician in any race.
So the general election contest became a three-way race between Nancy Lindselli, the Conservative candidate; Denna Halitz, the Independent candidate; and Nationalist Donna Rae Cobb.
This unusual situation gave Cobb a decisive advantage in the general election. As the only centre-left candidate, she stood to receive the most votes while her two squabbling conservative opponents split the centre-right vote.
Sure enough, that's exactly what happened.
Cobb, a moderately liberal assemblywoman from Hansboro, took 48% of the vote, or 867,227 votes, almost twice as many votes as incumbent Denna Halitz (I), who won just 24% or 435,791 votes, respectively.
The fiery and unabashed conservative Nancy Lindselli received 28% (506,900 votes).
Thus, Halitz was defeated and lost her seat.
But under East Deschire law, a candidate must receive a 50% plus one majority of the vote to be declared the winner.
So Cobb and Lindselli faced each other again in a head-to-head run-off election on January 5, 2015.
The run-off election, with much less voter turnout (only 21%), favored Cobb as the front-runner. But the Lindselli campaign fired up Conservative voters, who were enthused following the party's successful sweep of elections in November.
Lindselli framed the run-off election as not only a race against Donna Rae Cobb, but a race against the Nationalist party in general, including President Brenton Menuhaeo and Senate Majority Leader John Morandi (N-Lial).
"This is not just a race for East Deschire, this is a race for the heart and soul of this country. This is a race of wrong-versus-right, of common sense conservatives versus socialist liberals who have chipped away at our freedoms piece by piece over the past decade," Lindselli bellowed at a campaign rally in Doylestown, two days before the run-off.
Despite the energy of Lindselli's supporters, Cobb ended up winning the run-off slightly, taking 50.2% to Lindselli's 49.8%, a difference of 2,182 votes out of more than 550,000 cast.
The Lindselli campaign instantly filed a lawsuit, submitting formal challenges to the election results in two counties: Lynchman County in north-central East Deschire, and Mackinee County in the northeast.
A state judge overruled both complaints, and let the previous vote totals stand.
The Lindselli campaign paid for recounts in both counties but the vote totals did not change except by a few votes - not enough to change the outcome of the race.
Lindselli formally conceded the race following the recounts. Her campaign will not be reimbursed for the cost of the recounts because they did not change the outcome of the race.
Now, Donna Rae Cobb will go on to become East Deschire's fifth female senator in the state's history.
She will now join East Deschire's three other senators: Portia McLendon (N), Allison Sweeten (N), and Mike Aventhalle (C).
And in the aftermath of her victory, Cobb's two conservative opponents - Lindselli and Halitz - are blaming each other for Cobb's win.
"Nancy Lindselli needlessly picked a fight with me and neither one of us won. Donna Rae Cobb won," Halitz said told reporters at a press conference in her hometown of Christenkerr last week.
Lindselli was "the NAT's greatest asset in the race," Halitz added.
"She (Lindselli) basically won the race for them. Forget money or campaign ads or endorsements. The Nationalist party's best weapon in this race was Nancy Lindselli. She challenged me when the CNS party leaders told her not to. She went after me as if I were Satan himself. She attacked me, took shots at me, and she divided the whole Conservative party. And that basically handed this race to the Nationalist," said Halitz.
Lindselli, not surprisingly, laid the blame squarely at the feet of Denna Halitz.
"Last time I checked, we live in a democracy. I had the right to challenge Denna. She was not representing the people of East Deschire the way they want to be represented. I decided to take a stand, take my argument to the voters and let them decide who should represent our party. The voters rejected Denna and chose me, fair and square. Any noble candidate worth a couple beans would have gracefully bowed out and accepted defeat and wished their opponent well. But Denna threw a hissy fit and refused to withdraw from the race. She was determined to stay in the race as an Independent. And that resulted in Conservatives splitting the vote and Donna Rae Cobb winning. If there's anyone to blame, it's Denna Halitz. Her stubbornness and her pride were the reasons Conservatives lost this race," said a defiant Lindselli in an interview with a Hansboro television station.
In a video posted on her campaign website, Donna Rae Cobb thanked both Lindselli and Halitz, and vowed to move past the political infighting that became commonplace in the Senate race.
"I'm not happy that I won in the midst of such a brutal campaign by my opponents. I would much rather have had a polite, civil campaign. I don't take delight in winning in these circumstances. But I hope that all East Deschireans can move forward and put this race behind us, and look to the future," said Cobb.
It's unclear what lies ahead for Denna Halitz and Nancy Lindselli.
At age 44, Denna Halitz could run for office again in the future. Some see her as a potential challenger to Sen. Portia McLendon (N), who will be up for re-election in 2016.
Halitz has hinted she will likely return to the private sector.
Many Conservatives hope Lindselli, 77, who is no stranger to controversy with her far-right positions, will retire. But the firebrand former senator told the National Press Federation (NPF) she has "a lot of energy" and will not "just sit down and shut up like a lot of people want me to."
Lindselli also told the NPF she is considering challenging McLendon in 2016.
"I haven't ruled it out yet. I need more time to think about it. But certainly it's something I'm entertaining. Some people say, 'well you're a senior citizen you're too old to do this stuff.' I might be a senior citizen but just because I'm old doesn't mean I have to just sit down and shut up like a lot of people want me to. I can still contribute and make myself useful. I'm a fighter and I will fight as long as I can."
Denna Halitz, who was the incumbent when the race began, blamed her far-right opponent, former Sen. Nancy Lindselli, for losing what should have been an easy victory for the CNS party.
"If she (Lindselli) would have just let me run and not targeted me for defeat in the primary, I would have gone on to win comfortably in the general election," Halitz said in a Mavocke interview with the National Radio Broadcasters. "But instead she insisted on declaring war on me, a fellow Conservative, and that resulted in the Nationalist party winning and the Conservative party losing a seat it should have never lost."
A moderate, Halitz was favored to retain her seat in the general election. But Lindselli, who is far more conservative, challenged Halitz for the CNS nomination.
After several recounts, Lindselli was declared the winner of the primary, knocking Halitz out of the race.
However, in a surprise twist, Halitz announced she would continue her campaign into the general election as an Independent candidate - an uphill climb for any politician in any race.
So the general election contest became a three-way race between Nancy Lindselli, the Conservative candidate; Denna Halitz, the Independent candidate; and Nationalist Donna Rae Cobb.
This unusual situation gave Cobb a decisive advantage in the general election. As the only centre-left candidate, she stood to receive the most votes while her two squabbling conservative opponents split the centre-right vote.
Sure enough, that's exactly what happened.
Cobb, a moderately liberal assemblywoman from Hansboro, took 48% of the vote, or 867,227 votes, almost twice as many votes as incumbent Denna Halitz (I), who won just 24% or 435,791 votes, respectively.
The fiery and unabashed conservative Nancy Lindselli received 28% (506,900 votes).
Thus, Halitz was defeated and lost her seat.
But under East Deschire law, a candidate must receive a 50% plus one majority of the vote to be declared the winner.
So Cobb and Lindselli faced each other again in a head-to-head run-off election on January 5, 2015.
The run-off election, with much less voter turnout (only 21%), favored Cobb as the front-runner. But the Lindselli campaign fired up Conservative voters, who were enthused following the party's successful sweep of elections in November.
Lindselli framed the run-off election as not only a race against Donna Rae Cobb, but a race against the Nationalist party in general, including President Brenton Menuhaeo and Senate Majority Leader John Morandi (N-Lial).
"This is not just a race for East Deschire, this is a race for the heart and soul of this country. This is a race of wrong-versus-right, of common sense conservatives versus socialist liberals who have chipped away at our freedoms piece by piece over the past decade," Lindselli bellowed at a campaign rally in Doylestown, two days before the run-off.
Despite the energy of Lindselli's supporters, Cobb ended up winning the run-off slightly, taking 50.2% to Lindselli's 49.8%, a difference of 2,182 votes out of more than 550,000 cast.
The Lindselli campaign instantly filed a lawsuit, submitting formal challenges to the election results in two counties: Lynchman County in north-central East Deschire, and Mackinee County in the northeast.
A state judge overruled both complaints, and let the previous vote totals stand.
The Lindselli campaign paid for recounts in both counties but the vote totals did not change except by a few votes - not enough to change the outcome of the race.
Lindselli formally conceded the race following the recounts. Her campaign will not be reimbursed for the cost of the recounts because they did not change the outcome of the race.
Now, Donna Rae Cobb will go on to become East Deschire's fifth female senator in the state's history.
She will now join East Deschire's three other senators: Portia McLendon (N), Allison Sweeten (N), and Mike Aventhalle (C).
And in the aftermath of her victory, Cobb's two conservative opponents - Lindselli and Halitz - are blaming each other for Cobb's win.
"Nancy Lindselli needlessly picked a fight with me and neither one of us won. Donna Rae Cobb won," Halitz said told reporters at a press conference in her hometown of Christenkerr last week.
Lindselli was "the NAT's greatest asset in the race," Halitz added.
"She (Lindselli) basically won the race for them. Forget money or campaign ads or endorsements. The Nationalist party's best weapon in this race was Nancy Lindselli. She challenged me when the CNS party leaders told her not to. She went after me as if I were Satan himself. She attacked me, took shots at me, and she divided the whole Conservative party. And that basically handed this race to the Nationalist," said Halitz.
Lindselli, not surprisingly, laid the blame squarely at the feet of Denna Halitz.
"Last time I checked, we live in a democracy. I had the right to challenge Denna. She was not representing the people of East Deschire the way they want to be represented. I decided to take a stand, take my argument to the voters and let them decide who should represent our party. The voters rejected Denna and chose me, fair and square. Any noble candidate worth a couple beans would have gracefully bowed out and accepted defeat and wished their opponent well. But Denna threw a hissy fit and refused to withdraw from the race. She was determined to stay in the race as an Independent. And that resulted in Conservatives splitting the vote and Donna Rae Cobb winning. If there's anyone to blame, it's Denna Halitz. Her stubbornness and her pride were the reasons Conservatives lost this race," said a defiant Lindselli in an interview with a Hansboro television station.
In a video posted on her campaign website, Donna Rae Cobb thanked both Lindselli and Halitz, and vowed to move past the political infighting that became commonplace in the Senate race.
"I'm not happy that I won in the midst of such a brutal campaign by my opponents. I would much rather have had a polite, civil campaign. I don't take delight in winning in these circumstances. But I hope that all East Deschireans can move forward and put this race behind us, and look to the future," said Cobb.
It's unclear what lies ahead for Denna Halitz and Nancy Lindselli.
At age 44, Denna Halitz could run for office again in the future. Some see her as a potential challenger to Sen. Portia McLendon (N), who will be up for re-election in 2016.
Halitz has hinted she will likely return to the private sector.
Many Conservatives hope Lindselli, 77, who is no stranger to controversy with her far-right positions, will retire. But the firebrand former senator told the National Press Federation (NPF) she has "a lot of energy" and will not "just sit down and shut up like a lot of people want me to."
Lindselli also told the NPF she is considering challenging McLendon in 2016.
"I haven't ruled it out yet. I need more time to think about it. But certainly it's something I'm entertaining. Some people say, 'well you're a senior citizen you're too old to do this stuff.' I might be a senior citizen but just because I'm old doesn't mean I have to just sit down and shut up like a lot of people want me to. I can still contribute and make myself useful. I'm a fighter and I will fight as long as I can."
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment