Cancer-stricken senator's wig falls off in crowded senate chambers, colleague helps fix her hair

Humiliating moment turns to inspiration

PROVINCETOWN, Wilk. – Imagine a woman who has cancer, trips and falls in a crowded room, her life-like wig falls off her head and she lies on the floor, injured and humiliated.

That exact scenario happened Friday to Judy Wycliff, a state senator from Norblin, Wilkonshire.

Ms. Wycliff has breast cancer and lost her hair three months ago.

While walking to the podium inside the state senate chambers to speak in support of a veterans bill, she suddenly tripped on a step and tumbled to the floor.

In the process, her wig, which looks surprisingly real, became dislodged from her head and fell off.

Not only was Ms. Wycliff injured – both her back and knee required medical attention later a hospital – she was also humiliated, lying on the floor of the state house “bald as an armadillo,” as she put it.

But that’s when something amazing happened.

First, Ms. Wycliff’s colleagues rushed to her aid.

Once it was determined she was okay, state Senator Ron Wiggins (C-Ansher) grabbed her wig and helped put it back on her head.

“I was crying and laughing but it was really so sweet what Ron and the others did for me. They came to my aid and not only helped me up but helped me re-compose myself and get my hair back in order. It was such a touching gesture,” Wycliff told the National Press Federation (NPF) afterward.

For his part, Mr. Wiggins said he only did what anyone else would have done.

“A lady trips and falls, you help her back up to her feet and help her with her hair, it’s just the decent, gentleman thing to do,” said Mr. Wiggins.

Once Ms. Wycliff readjusted her hair and rose to her feet, the entire chamber, including citizens watching in the gallery erupted in a standing ovation.

Waving and mouthing “thank you” to the crowd, Ms. Wycliff limped to the podium and gave her speech, but not before thanking the audience.

“What just happened here…that’s proof that the people in this body, the senators in this room…we are first and foremost humans. We are people who love each other and support each other. We may disagree on bills and policy, but at the end of the day, we have each other’s back, no matter what party you belong to.”

The inspiring story was trending on Facebook and Twitter, with over 2 million shares and re-posts.

Despite their intimate moment shared on the Senate floor, Wycliff was unable to persuade Wiggins to support her bill. The hard-line Conservative from northern Wilkonshire voted against Senate Bill 147, while Wycliff, a Nationalist from southern Wilkonshire, voted in favor.

The bill passed largely along party lines. It raises the state sales tax by one-tenth of one percent to help fund additional medical services for veterans. Nationalists argued the expanded hospital access for veterans was vital while Conservatives said the tax increase would harm citizens, including veterans.

It’s unclear if the bill will be signed into law, since the recent governor’s race between Conservative Tara Hadley and Nationalist Tom Durick is unresolved and being litigated in the Wilkonshire court system.

Wilkonshire Secretary of State Hannah Meade declared Durick the winner with 50.06% to Hadley’s 49.94%, or 2,179,806 votes to 2,174,160 votes, respectively. Durick has also claimed victory.

Hadley and the state Conservative party have filed a lawsuit seeking additional recounts. The state supreme court is expected to declare a winner in the next two weeks.

Conservative voters cross party lines, vote for Nationalist in Trinton run-off election

Many CNS voters were angry at DR candidate, voted for Nationalist instead

CRISTO COLONADO, Trinton -- Marcus Edinough, the son of the late former governor Tracey Edinough (C), has won Trinton's governorship in a special run-off election yesterday.

Mr. Edinough (pronounced "Ed-uh-now"), who served as lieutenant governor of Trinton for the last eight years, defeated Attorney General Troy Halver (N) 54%-46%, respectively.

Halver won the initial three-way contest, which also featured Conservative businessman Jim Valoix (pronounced “Vuh-loy”).

The attorney general took 38% to Edinough's 31.2% and Valoix's 31%, respectively.

Under Trinton law, a candidate must obtain a majority of the vote to be declared the winner, thus Halver and Edinough advanced to a special run-off election held this weekend.

A Conservative until 2009, the junior Edinough angered many in the CNS community when he switched to the Democratic-Reformist party in protest of the Conservative party's views on social issues, which he considered too extreme and far-right.

At the time, the junior Edinough said the party was unrecognizable compared to when his father was in office. He also said his father would not be affiliated with the modern Conservative party if he were still alive.

“I don’t think my dad would recognize the Conservative party of today, nor do I think he would want anything to do with it,” said the younger Edinough.

During his tenure as lieutenant governor, Mr. Edinough was known for criticizing both major parties for partisanship, though he sided more often with Nationalists on important legislation, further alienating him from Conservatives who were already angered at his public admonishment of the party.

Initially hesitant to run for governor, Mr. Edinough announced in June 2016 he would seek the state's top post because he felt there were no suitable candidates among the two major parties.

"The people of Trinton deserve a governor who is a strong leader, fiscally responsible and socially accepting. Right now, none of the candidates running in either party embody all three of those qualities,” he said at an August 2016 debate in the state’s capitol city, Cristo Colonado.

The outspoken lieutenant governor was a sharp contrast to Attorney General Troy Halver and wealthy businessman Jim Valoix.

Much maligned by Conservatives, Halver is known for his working-class roots and broad support in the labor community. He’s also a strong NAT partisan well-known for his bruising political tactics and insults against the CNS party.

Mr. Valoix, who ran for governor in 2012, fared worse this time around. Like 2012, his vast wealth became an issue, as both Halver and Edinough cast him as out of touch with the average Trintonian.

Mr. Edinough capitalized on Mr. Valoix’s affluence, saying the Port Alice businessman and grandfather couldn’t connect with every day Trintonians.

“It’s hard to tell someone you know what it’s like to struggle to pay the mortgage or buy groceries for your family when you are somewhere in the $200-$300 million income bracket,” said Edinough at a campaign rally in September 2016.

His criticism of Jim Lavoix was somewhat hypocritical, given Mr. Edinough is also a multi-millionaire businessman who lives in a tony, gated community in suburban Ocean City.

“I find it ironic that the lieutenant governor is attacking me for my wealth when he himself lives in a gated community in a 6,000 square foot house with a five-car garage,” said Valoix at the time.

The attacks on Mr. Valoix stuck, however, and he was eliminated from the race after finishing third, only roughly 5,000 votes behind Mr. Edinough.

During the run-off election, Marcus Edinough cast Troy Halver as young and immature (Halver is 44 years old). Pro-Edinough political action committees (PACs) also hammered Halver for his record of partisanship and divisive relations with the legislature.

In a bid to attract fiscally conservative voters, Edinough portrayed his NAT challenger as an irresponsible, tax-and-spend enthusiast who would bankrupt the state.

Halver hit back, calling Edinough a political opportunist with “not even half the talent of his dad,” the late governor, a stinging insult.

As the ivy-league-educated, family man with his father’s famous name, Edinough was favored to win the special election, and he did so by a comfortable 53.8%-46.2% margin.

What’s interesting, though, is the number of Conservative voters who crossed party lines to vote for Troy Halver, a Nationalist.

Not only is Halver a Nationalist, he’s not a centrist. He’s very much a mainstream Nationalist: progressive on labor and the economy, and liberal on social issues, the last person Conservative voters would typically support.

But according to exit poll interviews, Conservative voters actually preferred the liberal Troy Halver to the moderate Marcus Edinough.

Many viewed Edinough as a traitor for leaving the CNS party.

“He changed parties for political opportunism, so what’s to say he won’t break his promises for his own personal, political benefit too?” said 67-year-old Glenn Rover, a Conservative voter from Narkin County in southern Trinton.

Jo Mills, 66, a Conservative voter from Dennis County on Trinton’s southern coast, said she voted for Halver “because at least you know what you’re getting with Troy Halver.”

“With Edinough, who knows what he’ll do when he gets into office. He might change parties, he might change platforms, he might do the exact opposite of what he’s campaigned on. I’ve lost all trust in the man. I don’t believe a word he says,” said Mills.

The revolt against Edinough wasn’t just older voters. Ryan Heckman, a 21-year-old junior at University of Trinton in Kinslerville, said he voted for Halver because the latter seemed more genuine and down-to-earth.

“Marcus Edinough seems kind of arrogant. He seems like an intellectual elite who looks down on the common people. I’m not a huge fan of Troy Halver, but he seems like a regular guy,” said Heckman.

In one exit poll conducted by the Golden Shore Tribune newspaper, a full 20% of self-identified Conservative voters said they voted for Halver. That’s impressive given the state has more than twice as many registered Nationalist voters as Conservatives.

The cross-over number was particularly high in rural counties in western and southern Trinton, territory that is usually solidly in the CNS column.

Voter turn-out was much lower in those counties as well, another sign of low voter enthusiasm.

Despite the cross-over effect, Edinough won 16 of the state’s 19 counties, including the most populous, Oceanview County. He received his biggest majority in Coritz County, which is home to the state capitol Cristo Colonado.

Coritz County has the most college-educated citizens per capita in the state, further proof that Edinough did well among voters with a college degree but struggled in the less-educated rural reaches of the state.

Halver performed best in working-class Merceda County in central Trinton and in his native Grandley County, home to the city of Tornboro, another working-class and union stronghold.

Interestingly, no prominent Conservatives in Trinton publicly endorsed Mr. Edinough, while Mr. Halver was quietly endorsed by most prominent Nationalists in the state.

Marcus Edinough will succeed Mark De Auonne (N), who served two terms and stepped down due to term limits.

Mr. Edinough has already said he will choose a cabinet that is bipartisan, with both Nationalists and Conservatives filling the state’s top positions.

“We’re charting a new course starting today,” Edinough said on the steps of the capitol in Cristo Colonado. “Trinton is moving forward, and we’re doing it by working together, both political parties coming together, politicians rolling up their sleeves and building compromise and consensus that works for all Trintonians.”