Karen DeSalle will campaign with Nick Hall in Kalnier

LAMBERTH, Kaln. -- Former Kalnier Gov. Karen DeSalle (N) will be hitting the campaign trail soon, but she won't be seeking a rematch with Conservative Tony Ritonio, who ousted her from office back in 2014.

DeSalle announced earlier this year that she would not run to recapture the governor's mansion. She served one term as governor from 2011-2015.

Instead, DeSalle endorsed NAT candidate Nick Hall.

Hall, 38, is a former GBC TV presenter in the Lamberth area. He stepped down in 2017 to focus on his gubernatorial campaign.

Having never held elected office before, Hall lacks experience, but is well-known in the Lamberth area.

He has worked with DeSalle and other prominent NAT leaders to establish connections with influential donors throughout the state.

Hall's partner Sarah Ellen Swey is a Lamberth city councilor from the city's working-class south side.

Despite being highly telegenic and friendly, Hall still has an uphill climb to defeating incumbent Tony Ritonio (C), who is seeking a second term in the 2018 fall elections.

Ritonio narrowly defeated DeSalle in 2014, and he took some flak for trying to weaken the influence of labor unions in the state.

However, Kalnier's economy has grown under Ritonio's tenure, and he has held a steady approval rating around 55% for the past year, though his detractors are strong in their disapproval (37%).

Kalnier is a liberal state, but Ritonio has deftly avoided controversial social issues.

When fellow Conservatives made racist comments about Lt. Gov. Len Shigasi, who is Japanese, Ritonio angrily defended Shigasi and condemned the racist rhetoric.

And while he is pro-business and generally supports lower taxes, Ritonio vetoed a funding bill authored by Conservative legislators that gutted funding for social programs and education.

The governor has also embraced bipartisan environmental legislation and has been vocal in his opposition to US President Donald Trump.

But Ritonio's tenure hasn't been all rosy, Nick Hall asserts.

Ritonio's efforts to curb the power and influence of labor unions have been "detrimental," Hall said in an interview with Lamberth Local 9.

Hall also criticized Ritonio for opposing tax increases to fund light rail extensions in the Lamberth metro area.

And Hall has repeatedly called on Ritonio to back a proposed amendment to the state constitution to ban the death penalty.

The death penalty has been outlawed in Kalnier since 1998, but that law is not enshrined in the state constitution, and could theoretically be overturned more easily than a constitutional provision could be.

Ritonio says he personally supports capital punishment, but will respect the will of the voters.

"I want to put this issue to the voters of Kalnier. Let's decide as a state, with all Kalnierans having a voice in this very personal, emotional issues," Ritonio said at a recent forum on justice reform.

No polls have been conducted recently in the Kalnier governor's race, but the National Governors Association (NATGA) has indicated it is willing to invest millions of dollars in the race.

Ritonio allies say NATGA's Conservative counterpart, the Conservative Governors Association (CGA), will defend the governor vigorously with a strong financial backing.

Meanwhile, Karen DeSalle, Ritonio's predecessor, has stayed largely in the shadows in recent years. She has made few public appearances, and moved to Mavocke, where she took a job with the Menuhaeo Administration.

A spokeswoman for DeSalle confirmed, however, that the former governor will make multiple campaign appearances with Hall in the coming months.

Details on the campaign itinerary are limited, but both DeSalle's office and Hall's campaign confirmed the two will make a joint appearance at a campaign rally on September 22 at Lake Auditt High School.

McCaren nominates Maggie Coates to be next spy chief

MAVOCKE -- After much anticipation, President Jim McCaren made his pick to lead the country's main spy agency.

The president has chosen Maggie Coates, a former diplomat and senior official in Grassadellia's intelligence services, to lead NEXIS.

The Native and External Intelligence Services (NEXIS) agency is the largest and most prominent of Grassadellia's spy agencies.

Coates has held several leadership positions within both the Foreign Affairs Department and NEXIS.

If confirmed, she would be the agency's first female chief.

At age 68, she would also be one of the oldest directors of the agency.

Her nomination won praise from across the political spectrum.

"Maggie Coates is an expert in her field and will serve our country well as director of NEXIS," said Armana Senator Serap Figaori (pronounced "Sare-rap Fig-aree"), a Nationalist.

Chuck Danbury, a Conservative senator also from Armana, and one of the Senate's most widely-respected members on national security issues, also offered praise for Coates.

"Maggie Coates has the experience, the knowledge and the temperament to lead NEXIS, and I look forward to voting to confirm her," Danbury said.

Some Conservative senators expressed early opposition to Coates' nomination.

"I have some real concerns about Maggie Coates' views on interrogation and giving legal rights to terrorists," Sen. Driscoll Sherber (C-Biereland) told GNN News.

"Terrorists who seek to kill and destroy Grassadellians should not have access to the same legal rights that the average Grassadellian citizen has access to," added Sherber.

Most members, however, reacted with a generic statement on McCaren's pick.

"I'm eager to sit down with Ms. Coates and discuss her vision for NEXIS and the concerns she has about our country's security," Ansleigha Senator Ellie Higgins, a Conservative, told the NPF.

Trinton Sen. Bruce Kellney (N) told the Golden Shore Tribune that Coates has "a record of service," and "deserves to have a fair and transparent confirmation process."

"I really hope the hardcore Conservatives don't try to sink this nomination just for political purposes," Kellney admonished. "On the issue of national security, we shouldn't let partisan politics dictate our votes."

Denna Halitz on rematch with Nancy Lindselli: 'If I lose, I lose'

CHRISTEN-KERR, East Des. -- It's been four years since Denna Halitz was forced out of the Federal Senate.

The popular senator from the Vandershutes, a fertile, agricultural region in the southeast corner of the state, was knocked off in an intra-party battle with Nancy Lindselli, a hardliner former senator from Birch Hollow.

At the time, Lindselli cast Halitz as too moderate for the Conservative Party.

Halitz was more connected to Mavocke than her home state, Lindselli charged, and too compromising with the NAT and President Brenton Menuhaeo.

After a knife-edge race, the fiery Lindselli was declared the winner of the CNS primary.

Halitz continued the race as an Independent, but in the general election, both she and Lindselli split the centre-right vote and lost to Donna Rae Cobb, a moderate Nationalist from Hansboro.

The two former senators played the blame game after the election.

Halitz argued she would have coasted to re-election and the CNS would have held on to a key Senate seat had Lindselli not challenged her in the primary.

Lindselli called Halitz a "sore loser" for continuing in the race as an Independent after losing the CNS nomination.

Fast forward four years to present day, and the two Conservative women are going head-to-head again.

Both are seeking the Conservative Party's nod to take on NAT incumbent Allison Sweeten, who narrowly defeated Lindselli in 2012.

But this time, the contest is less heated, at least on Halitz's part.

In a wide-ranging interview on East Deschire Public Radio, Denna Halitz reflected on her failed 2014 bid for re-election.

"I think in 2014, I was so desperate to win, so desperate to hold on to my seat, that I sort of stooped to the level of my opponent. She flung attacks against me, so I flung them right back. She was insulting on the campaign trail, and I fired back with my own zingers. I think that was a mistake. I fought fire with fire, and I realized afterwards that that strategy was probably not the most effective," Halitz said.

"And more importantly, it was also not who I am. I'm not a bitter, vindictive person who hurls insults casually. I'm a level-headed, calm, thoughtful person who wants to have a civil discussion about the problems facing our country," she added.

This time around, Denna Halitz insists her campaign is focused on listening instead of trading barbs.

"I've been traveling all around East Deschire, talking to people all across our state, asking them, 'what's important to you?' 'What's important to your family?' 'What challenges are you facing in your small business?' 'What problems are you having with health care?' 'What can the government do or not do to make things easier?'"

"And people have been very open and frank with me. They say, 'Denna, wheat prices are too low,' or 'government subsidies are not covering the cost of the farm.' They tell me that they can't sleep at night because they are worried about paying for college tuition for their kids, or paying medical bills or paying the mortgage. And I've just been listening to all these everyday, average East Deschireans, trying to understand and empathize and let them know, if I'm elected, I will try to help you, because that's what a senator does."

"We don't senators to Mavocke to just insult the president, or to be obstinate because they don't like the administration or the majority party. We send our senators there to fix things, to make solutions, to help their constituents and be a voice for their state. And that's the kind of senator I want to be for East Deschire."

She's less concerned with winning this time, Halitz said.

"This time, since I'm not an incumbent, I'm not desperate to hang on to my seat. I'm not desperate to hold the seat for the party. I don't care about being in the majority. I'm just running because I want to run and because I care about our state and the people."

"I'm in it to win, but if I lose, I lose. Life will go on. There is more to life than being a senator."

For her part, Nancy Lindselli has been relatively quiet compared to her previous campaigns.

She has criticized Halitz in TV ads and campaign flyers for being too moderate and for not standing up for East Deschire's concerns in Mavocke.

But Lindselli's attacks have been much softer than those of her past runs for office.

Lindselli panned Halitz for "trying to appear to take the high moral ground." And the former scoffed at Halitz's recent "new age, hippie, peace-love persona."

"I find it hard to believe that Denna Halitz is all of a sudden transformed into this positive role-model. I find it hard to believe that she's all of a sudden above all the attack ads and the dirt-throwing. I've ran against her before, I know just how dirty she can get," Lindselli told a Hansboro TV station.

But Lindselli maintained that the real problem in this election cycle is the NAT incumbent, Allison Sweeten.

"Allison Sweeten is far more dangerous and harmful for East Deschire than Denna is. I think Denna is a good person, I think she does really, truly care about East Deschire. Allison Sweeten only cares about Allison Sweeten. And the Nationalist Party. And the abortion industry. And the radical environmentalists who want to destroy our farmers and our agriculture and our way of life here in East Deschire."

Sweeten has done little campaigning so far, and frequently portrays herself as a centrist, despite having a solidly liberal voting record on social issues like abortion and gay rights.

A spokeswoman for the senator said Sweeten will stay focused on serving East Deschire while her two Conservative opponents "continue their cat fight from 2014."

Polls have shown Halitz would easily defeat Sweeten in a general election match up, while Lindselli would trail the incumbent slightly.