MENZIE SPRINGS, N. Ceona -- The crowded race for the NAT nomination in North Ceona's governor's race is remaining a deadlock, a new poll finds.
State Senate Minority Leader Tom Muddleford, who represents the southeast suburbs of Parkins, remains in a tenuous first place, garnering 16.75% of NAT voters' support in a recent University of North Ceona poll.
Normally, a candidate only receiving not quite 17% would not be worth celebrating. But in North Ceona's crowded NAT primary, there are eight candidates, and Muddleford's 16.75% support is more than any of his seven competitors.
Close behind Muddleford is Lexerna businessman John Thurgood, with 16.44 percent.
Rounding out the top three is Forward Industries CEO Susie Forszak, who has 13.68 percent support.
Arab-Grassadellian activist Sajid Roushan receives 12.88% support, according to the poll. Lexerna lawyer Blair Elliott receives 11.45%, while south Parkins state Sen. Katie Pollock receives 11.14%, respectively.
The final two candidates, state Sen. Lisa Campion of Cape Goodwin, and state Sen. Tom Denton of central Parkins, receive less than nine percent -- Campion clocks in at 8.91% and Denton with 8.74 percent, respectively.
The poll shows the race for the NAT nomination is still anyone's for the taking. Muddleford has held on to a minuscule lead, and he remains the favorite. But with less than 17% support, and several opponents in striking distance, it's very possible another candidate could leap-frog into first place.
The expansive breadth of candidates was an issue that was debated heavily during the opening minutes of Friday night's debate in Cherry Valley at North Ceona State University.
Muddleford called on the four lowest-polling candidates -- Denton, Campion, Pollock and Elliott -- to drop out.
"We have to be unified if we're going to win this election in November. And we can't be unified when we have everybody and their brother running for governor," said Muddleford.
Thurgood made a similar entreaty.
"At some point, you have to look at the polling data, you have to look at the fundraising numbers, and you have to ask yourself, is this a viable race for me? Is this a race I can win?," said Thurgood.
But the bottom-four candidates declined to exit the race.
State Sen. Tom Denton, the lowest-polling candidate, pointed out that he was the first candidate in the race.
"I was the very first person on this stage to stand up and say, 'I am willing to take on Ty Jaimeson and represent our party.' I was the first person on this stage to go down to the county elections office and submit my paperwork. I was the first person to get enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. So why should I drop out when I started his race longer ago than anyone else?," said an annoyed Denton.
Lisa Campion, the state senator from Cape Goodwin, pointed out that despite her low polling numbers, she received the coveted endorsement from EMILY'S List, a leading pro-choice left-wing interest group that fights for women's reproductive rights.
Campion also pointed out that "the race is in flux," and "a lot can change before May," when North Ceona holds its primary election.
Blair Elliott, the lawyer from Lexerna, said "all of us are in this race to win," and he applauded the group's passion.
"But ultimately, it will be the NAT voters of North Ceona who have the final say, and that's the way it should be," Elliott said, to applause from the crowd.
Besides electability, the group also debated important topics of statewide significance, including jobs and taxes, homelessness, hate crimes against LGBTQ+ and Muslim North Ceonans, education spending, environmentalism, and the possibility of increasing tolling on state highways.
On taxes and jobs, all candidates said they want to bring better-paying jobs to North Ceona. Only three, Muddleford, Roushan and Pollock, said they would support a $15 minimum wage state-wide.
All eight candidates called for more funding and treatment for homelessness. Susie Forszak was the most critical of current policies, saying increased funding, housing and treatment alone won't fix the problem.
"If throwing money at the problem was the solution, we would have solved this problem a long time ago," said the first-time candidate for public office. "This is a complex problem that is going to require more than just extra money and beds to fix."
On hate crimes, Muddleford lauded his own efforts to pass hate crimes legislation in the state senate.
"Because of my leadership, along with the leadership of my NAT colleagues, we have hate crimes legislation today in this state. If we left it up to the Conservatives, there would be no such thing," he said.
Still, the state "has a long way to go" to ensure all North Ceonans have equality and equity, Muddleford said.
Katie Pollock and Sajid Roushan took issue with Muddleford's characterization.
"When we have LGTBQ+ folks being attacked on the street, when we have mosques being attacked with hateful and threatening graffiti, and these are repeat crimes, I think we still have much more to do to make sure our state is a safe and welcoming place for all minority North Ceonans," said Pollock.
Roushan, who is Muslim, spoke poignantly of receiving death threats and even having an incendiary explosive device placed on his personal vehicle.
"Someone tried to kill me with a bomb. And that person was arrested and prosecuted. But I have to tell you, the prosecution and arrest didn't happen easily. It didn't happen automatically. It took a lot of outrage and anger and constant reminding of the authorities before any arrest was made. And that's unacceptable," said Roushan.
The group was unanimous in its support for increased education spending. And on the environment, all eight candidates said they want to increase conservation, reduce the state's carbon footprint, and give subsidies and tax incentives to green companies and businesses that reduce their carbon share.
On the issue of tolls, all eight said they were open to the idea of new tolls on state highways to help pay for new roads, environmental mitigation from new roads projects, and alternative public transportation.
"We live in a big state, geographically. People rely on cars to get around. We need to properly fund public transportation so that people can ride the train or ride the bus and still get to where they need to go in a reasonable amount of time," said Katie Pollock.
Her transportation plan has called for millions in new spending on light rail extension and smart bus operations.
Roushan also has a grandiose public transport proposal, calling for over $1 billion in new public transport spending.
The other candidates were generally supportive of public transportation, but called for less new spending.
"I think the first thing we need to do is do an audit of our transportation system in this state. Find out which roads are in most need of repair, which roads are used the most and have the most traffic, find out where smart busses and light rail make sense, and maybe in some areas, they don't make sense. Let's take inventory first before we start shoving money out the door," said Susie Forszak.
At the end of the debate, all eight candidates agreed that more needs to be done to bring North Ceonans together and to unite both sides of the state.
"We are living in a time where the eastern half of North Ceona is completely cut off and completely doing its own thing from the western half of the state," said John Thurgood. "It's not cutoff transportation-wise, we have freeways and railways that connect our state. But culturally, we are divided. People in eastern North Ceona have different priorities than folks in western North Ceona. And for years, people have only cared about what's happening in their own backyard. But we are one state, and we need to care about not only what's happening in our county or in our zip code, but also what's happening in the rest of our state. Because what happens up in the mountains of Charles County affects folks in Rexdrey County, and Levander County, and Lewis County, and Alapeo County. What happens anywhere in North Ceona territory affects the rest of us too. And we need to start understanding that and taking more of a concern for our neighbors as well as ourselves," said Thurgood.
His comments were echoed by the other seven candidates, and all were met with strong applause from the crowd.
The North Ceona NAT Primary Election is scheduled for May 14.
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