Senate easily confirms Mona Rodgers as next Secretary of State

MAVOCKE -- Former Roddenshire Gov. Mona Rodgers sailed through Senate confirmation Monday, after her formal nomination for Secretary of State by President Jim McCaren.

Rodgers received broad bipartisan support, with 83 senators voting to confirm her and only 13 voting against.

The 13 senators who voted against confirmation were hardline Conservatives.

All 52 Nationalist senators voted for her, along with 31 Conservatives.

Appearing at an impromptu press conference immediately following the vote, Rodgers thanked Senators for their support and pledged to 'hit the ground running.'

"Our national security issues don't take a day off. And I won't either. I have been preparing for this role ever since President McCaren asked me to accept it, and I will work from this moment forward to put our national interests first and to advocate for peace and freedom around the world," she said.

Rodgers nomination was a rare moment in the Senate. Both Majority Leader Debbie Madronas (N-Damoign) and Minority Leader Jon Ralston (C-Ansleigha) voted to confirm her.

"It's very rare that Debbie Madronas and I agree on anything, but we were both happy to vote to confirm Mona Rodgers," said Ralston as a press conference he held jointly with Madronas.

He added that while Rodgers' politics are 'very different' from his own, he was impressed when he met with her.

"Would I have voted for Mona Rodgers for governor of Roddenshire? No, I would not have. But she was nominated for Secretary of State, and when it came to national security issues and foreign policy, I was impressed with her breadth of knowledge and with her answers."

Ralston said he won't always agree with Rodgers' positions, and with the policies of the McCaren administration.

"But she is qualified and in my opinion, she's a step up from her predecessor," he said, referring to outgoing Secretary of State Joseph Milhaughley.

Madronas also praised Rodgers, saying she is a 'born diplomat.'

"Mona has brought people together from day one of her political career. She is a uniter, she is someone who finds common ground. She is perfect for the position of Secretary of State, where diplomacy is key."

Collester also thanked the members of the Senate for their support of Rodgers' nomination.

"I want to thank not just our NAT senators but also the 31 Conservative senators who crossed party lines to support a qualified and eager nominee," McCaren said in a press conference.

Meanwhile, while the opposition to Rodgers' confirmation was small, it was vocal in some circles.

Sen. Bob Mellon (C-Wilkonshire) called Rodgers 'deeply unqualified' for the nation's top diplomatic role. He said her 'pacifist NAT policies will make Grassadellia weaker.'

Fellow Wilkonshire Sen. Liam Rekvar (C) also spoke vocally against Rodgers, saying she is 'another soft Nationalist who will coddle dictators and continue the status quo of appeasement.'

Rodgers did not respond to the criticism, choosing to remain positive in light of her historic confirmation.

She is the third woman to serve as Secretary of State, after Dawnelle Hunter-Garrett and Donna Almone. 

Poll shows Trinton's Dorothy Grischaltz vulnerable for re-election

WILLIAMSTOWN, Tri. -- A new poll released Monday shows bad news for Trinton Sen. Dorothy Grischaltz as she gears up for re-election in 2024.

The poll, conducted by the Golden Shore Tribune newspaper in conjunction with the University of Trinton, finds Grischaltz trailing her Conservative opponent, former fighter pilot Mack Anderson.

In the poll, Anderson receives nearly 52% of support, while Grischaltz, a self-proclaimed socialist, receives only 47.5 percent, respectively.

Grischaltz, a former progressive Liberal Democrat turned Nationalist, served decades in the National Assembly before winning her Senate seat in 2018. That year, she beat Conservative Kelsey Frascanio by a comfortable 54%-41% margin.

This time around, Anderson is the Conservative frontrunner. Unlike Trinton's open governor's race, where no incumbent is running and dozens of candidates have expressed interest in running, other Conservative candidates have been reticent to challenge Grischaltz, who has long been viewed as unbeatable.

This new poll pours cold water on that theory of untouchability.

Anderson is a young, up-and-coming member of the Conservative party. A former fighter pilot and veteran of the Afghanistan War, he is popular among CNS voters and scores well among independent voters too.

Anderson previously ran for the Senate back in 2020, falling short of beating NAT incumbent Tim Blakewell. In that race, Anderson took 46% to Blakewell's 51%, respectively.

But both Conservative and Nationalist party insiders say Grischaltz, despite her reputation as being unbeatable, is actually more vulnerable to defeat.

As a far-left politician, she has fared well in historically left-leaning Trinton over the decades. However, at 74 years old, her age is a turn off to some voters. And Grischaltz's extreme far-left positions on certain issues like taxes, government spending, and the environment make her less palatable to many moderate or left-leaning but centrist voters.

Anderson, meanwhile, pulls strong support from the Conservative party base. At the same time, he is moderate on many divisive issues, which allows him to pull support from independent and centrist historically NAT voters.

He's done his best to dodge thorny social issues like abortion and transgender rights. When asked in the past, Anderson has given vague, general answers, saying he supports both the rights of women and young transgender students, but also the rights of fathers, unborn children, and parents of transgender children.

His more moderate stances and unclear answers have allowed him to sidestep many of the hot-button issues that have dogged other Conservative candidates.

It also helps that Anderson is much less extreme than previous Conservative candidates in Trinton, like Randy Kalamaza or Eddie Cazzini, who both previously ran for Senate.

Still, it's more than a year before next year's election, and supporters of Grischaltz say the senator has delivered for Trintonians.

"Dorothy has brought much-needed money to our state, she has fought to protect the environment, she has been staunchly anti-war. When I hear people say she is too 'far-left,' I laugh, because Trinton is a blue state. Trintonians are liberal, and she is very much in the liberal mainstream," says Sean Turnbull, an NAT political consultant who has worked with Grischaltz for more than 20 years.

Conservatives sense an opportunity, though.

The state CNS party has had multiple failures back-to-back in recent elections. Currently, the Conservative party only holds one of Trinton's four federal Senate seats. And the party holds no state level offices.

With the 2024 election looming, the Conservative party is seeking to reverse their fortunes. With an open governor's race, the party is hoping to capture the governor's mansion for the first time since statehood. And they're looking to re-take the lieutenant governorship and secretary of state position they previously held.

The party would also like to increase its share of Trinton's National Assembly seats. 

It will be a tall order for a state party that has seen clashes between the more moderate faction of the party, which includes the party's patriarch Sen. George Reedsworth, and the more right-wing faction, which includes many of the unsuccessful Conservative candidates whom have ran in the past.

Mack Anderson falls somewhere in between those two factions, or perhaps in an overlapping circle that encompasses both groups.

Supporters say he is conservative enough to satisfy the right-wing base, but also moderate enough to appeal to independent and even disaffected NAT voters.

The 43-year-old is also a prolific fundraiser. He currently has $1.8 million in the bank already, even before he's officially announced his candidacy.

Grischaltz, with strong support from the left-wing, is also likely to raise a lot of money. She's popular not just among her base in Trinton but also nationally, as one of the most progressive senators to date. She will likely use that national popularity as leverage to gain donations.

However, her pledge to avoid corporate campaign donations may severely limit her fundraising abilities, if she adheres to her promise.

For now, the race is worth watching, says Dr. Kerry Rudgley, chair of Dulkalow University's School of Government.

He's currently rating the race as a 'toss-up.'

Andrew Martinek announces bid for Roddenshire governor

LACARTHY, Rodd. -- Former Roddenshire Attorney General Andrew Martinek (N) announced today that he will seek the state's governorship next year.

Martinek previously served as Attorney General, a position he held until January 2021, after being narrowly defeated by Conservative Scott Bracken.

At age 44, the young Nationalist from Lacarthy remains the NAT's top candidate to reclaim the governor's mansion from Conservative Gov. Jon Cortano.

Martinek had long been rumored to be considering a run for governor, but he waited to announce his campaign until former Gov. Mona Rodgers (N) deferred.

Rodgers is set to be nominated by President Jim McCaren for federal Secretary of State, opening what is likely to be a clear path for NAT's gubernatorial nomination for Martinek.

At a press conference on the steps of the Earl E. Manion Federal Courthouse in Lacarthy, where he began his career as a deputy federal prosecutor, Martinek said he is running for governor because leadership is lacking under the current administration. He placed particular fault on the incumbent Cortano for failing to reach an agreement with Damoign's state government on building a bridge to span Naylin Bay.

"The Cortano-Chen administration has had three years to get a bridge planned, they haven't done it. They promised to get traffic congestion under control and they haven't. They promised better test scores in our public schools and they haven't delivered on it. On issue after issue, the Cortano-Chen administration has failed," said Martinek.

In place of the current policies, he promised to increase funding for alternative public transportation and state schools. And he pledged to reach an agreement with neighboring Damoign on a bridge within 90 days of taking office.

No other Nationalists have announced a campaign for governor yet, although former federal Sen. Vince Montimado and former Lt. Gov. Peter Orr have not ruled out running.

The Cortano campaign panned Martinek's announcement, calling it 'ironic' that the former Attorney General chose a courthouse to unveil his campaign.

"It's ironic that Andrew Martinek chose the steps of a federal courthouse to announce his campaign for governor, considering he has never taken a tough stance on criminals during his career. As a prosecutor, Andrew Martinek almost always offered violent criminals shorter sentences than they deserved or the law allowed. He made plea agreements with some of the most dangerous criminals on the streets. And he downplayed and overlooked violent crime as Attorney General. He even supported releasing dangerous felons from prison earlier than they were scheduled to be released," said the Cortano campaign statement.

"Andrew Martinek is a criminal's best friend," it added.

It is true Martinek did offer plea agreements and shorter sentences to convicted criminals during his tenure as a prosecutor. It's also true he did support the release of some convicted felons, including some who were convicted of serious crimes against persons. However, Martinek justified those actions by saying each case had mitigating circumstances, and that the accused and convicted showed remorse for their crimes and hopes for rehabilitation.

A new poll released by the University of Roddenshire shows Martinek leading Cortano in a hypothetical match up. The poll finds Martinek receiving 50.8% to Cortano's 48.0%, with 1.2% choosing a minor party or write-in candidate. The margin of error is +/- three points.

Milhaughly to resign from Secretary of State post

MAVOCKE -- The political world was abuzz Friday afternoon, as word of the pending resignation of Secretary of State Joseph Milhaughly was making its way around the media and inside circles in Mavocke.

Milhaughly, a former Nationalist senator from Marchenay who specialized in foreign affairs, has reportedly clashed with President Jim McCaren and his senior foreign policy team, sources inside Collester said Friday.

The secretary and the executive team reached an impasse, those sources said. Those who spoke to the media asked to remain anonymous since they were not permitted to publicly discuss internal matters.

Milhaughly was appointed to the position back in February 2022, as tensions between Russia and Ukraine came to a boil.

There's no official word on when Milhaughly will step down or who will replace him.

However, rumors are circulating online and through the capitol that former Roddenshire Gov. Mona Rodgers (N), whom McCaren appointed as Ambassador at Large last year, may be tapped for the top position.

Rodgers was toying with seeking Roddenshire's governorship again, or possibly seeking a Senate seat. If she is nominated for and accepts the position of Secretary of State, she would have to pass on an immediate run for elected office.

There has been no confirmation, though, of Rodgers' possible nomination. Sources close to the president say he has a good rapport with Rodgers. The two are longtime allies, and at age 74, she is unlikely to be influenced by political ambition like other possible nominees might be, something the president reportedly values.

Collester has declined to comment officially. A spokesperson for the president's office only said Friday that the president is "beyond grateful" for Milhaughly's service to the government.

This story is developing and will continue to be updated as new information arises.