Damoign Conservatives cast first votes in governor's primary race

LARCH LANE, Dmg. -- Lieutenant Governor Pat Leemore (C) had a big opening night in Damoign's Conservative party governor's race.

As Damoign Conservatives look to choose a nominee for governor to go up against incumbent NAT Gov. Jenna Duvan this fall, Leemore is hoping the momentum she enjoyed on the first night of voting carries her through to the end of the primary calendar.

Damoign is the only state in the country in which candidates for governor don't compete in one, single, statewide primary election, but instead compete in a series of county-level, local elections over a period of several months.

Damoign's traditional system has been in effect for decades. Its unique, prolonged, local-level system is designed to force candidates for governor to focus on local communities and rural areas instead of only the Grassadellia City metropolitan area, where a majority of Damoignites live.

In the first round of voting, held Wednesday, four counties held their elections: suburban and affluent Wortherton County and Kinslow County on the western outskirts of Grassadellia City, as well as New Tyne County in the state's southwest, and Isle County in south-central Damoign.

Leemore won three of the four, only losing New Tyne County to rival Mercer Diego, who now lives there.

With seven Conservative candidates for governor, it's difficult for one candidate to have a resounding, landslide victory in any county. 

In most cases, the candidates will split the votes fairly evenly.

That was the case Wednesday evening, as Leemore won Isle County with 28.1%, Wortherton County with 23.6%, and Kinslow County with just 21.2%, respectively.

Diego won his newly-adopted home county of New Tyne with 26.6%, respectively. The county, in the highly-Conservative southwest corner of the state, is more middle class and more right-leaning than the other three counties at stake on Wednesday.

Despite her modest plurality wins Wednesday night, Leemore celebrated the first election returns at an election night party in Larch Lane, a wealthy Conservative-leaning suburb south of Grassadellia City in neighboring Larch County.

"I think we're off to a good start," Leemore said to a crowd of supporters, gathered in a small hotel ballroom. "Tonight's results are encouraging, and they prove that Damoign Conservatives want an established leader who has solid conservative credentials, who is unafraid to stand up to Nationalists, and who is ready and prepared to lead," she said, to enthusiastic applause and cheers.

Just a few miles away at another luxury hotel, billionaire businessman George Velmar, who entered the governor's race at the last second, held a press conference. After all the votes were counted Wednesday night, Velmar was standing in second place out of the seven candidates.

"Not bad for joining the race at the last minute," Velmar said, to cheers from his supporters. "This race is a tortoise and hare situation," he continued. "Some candidates will get a quick start and an early lead, but it's about who finished at the end with the most votes. I'm very pleased with how we did tonight," he said.

Up north, in the heart of Grassadellia's largest city, in the borough of Middleboro, businessman and attorney John Barian, who placed third in Wednesday night's contests, held his election night celebration at a posh bar.

"I'm very satisfied with how we did tonight," Barian said. "We are currently standing in third place in the rankings, and this is my first run for office. Most people didn't even know who John Barian was before I started my campaign. And now we're currently in third place, and not far behind those who lead us. So I'm very happy. And I couldn't have done it and can't keep doing it without you and your help. So, thank you very much," he said to his supporters.

It was a more muted tone downstate at Mercer Diego's election night gathering.

The former lieutenant governor, who grew up in Tolston and who twice ran unsuccessfully for governor against Jenna Duvan (N), is staging his third run for the state's highest office.

After his two previous losses, Diego moved out of Damoign, lamenting the liberal policies Duvan was implementing. 

He and his family relocated far away to Clothen, Lial. Diego, who was an Evangelical minister before entering politics, returned to the ministry in Lial, working as a senior pastor at a mega church in suburban Clothen for almost five years.

In 2019, Diego purchased a home and 210-acre ranch in southwest Damoign, but continued working in Lial.

He moved permanently to his Damoign ranch last year, shortly before announcing his candidacy for governor.

It was at his picturesque ranch, Wednesday night, that Diego tried to console his anxious supporters after his fourth-place finishing.

"It's not our best showing tonight, but you know what? Three of the four counties we were competing in tonight are liberal counties. And we are the most conservative, anti-establishment candidate in this race. So it's only predictable and expected that the pro-establishment candidates should have won tonight," Diego said.

He also told supporters that more conservative-leaning counties in the state's more rural areas in southern Damoign will go strongly for him, when their contests are held.

"This is one round of voting. When you have more conservative parts of the state voting, like Patterham County, Columbus County, Templeton County...you're going to see a strong showing for Mercer Diego. These numbers we have tonight are just one round and they're temporary. They're not a trend."

Diego is partially correct. Isle County is a liberal-leaning county. Kinslow County is a battleground suburban county.

Wortherton County, directly west of Grassadellia City, is a known Conservative-favoring county, however.

Although, the county, which is highly-educated and affluent, is known to typically favor more centrist Conservative candidates.

Kim Camden, a former Byelle Administration Treasury Department official, campaigned heavily in Wortherton County and her native Kinslow County. Camden, a moderate, ended the night in fifth place, but only a few hundred votes behind Diego.

"I am extremely proud of how we did tonight," she said. "I met so many wonderful people on the campaign trail, and we are definitely lesser-known and less wealthy than many of our fellow candidates. So, the fact that we were able to land in a very close fifth-place, right behind two other candidates, right in the thick of it, despite having a very small budget and less name recognition, I think is really good news for us," she said.

Camden previously ran for governor in 2020 but was not a serious contender.

Businessmen Rob McCann of Gregorson and Rick Tesario of West Lake also trailed significantly on Wednesday night, with McCann only garnering 11.8% and Tesario a meager 5.6%, respectively.

Both men pledged to continue their campaigns, however.

"This was the first round of voting. Only four counties out of 43 have had a chance to have their say. I think we owe it to those other millions of Damoignites to have their say," McCann said.

Tesario had similar sentiments.

"It's way too early to talk about people dropping out. One round of voting and the establishment is already ready to thin the herd. That's not going to happen with our campaign," he told the Grassadellia City Times.

Tesario previously ran for governor in 2016, first as a Conservative, and then as a Constitution party candidate. Despite entreaties from Mercer Diego, who was the Conservative nominee, and other party leaders, Tesario refused to drop out of the race.

His presence on the ballot as a third-party candidate was widely blamed for Diego's narrow loss to Jenna Duvan.

To this day, Tesario is loved by small-government advocates and gun rights enthusiasts. His focus on the budget and starkly reducing government spending has won him accolades from fiscal conservatives.

However, Tesario is still unpopular with party leadership, who feel he sabotaged the party's best chance at winning the governorship in a very close contest.

This year, the party establishment is split. Many support Leemore, the moderate lieutenant governor from Bragdon County.

A pragmatic Conservative who styles herself in a similar mold to Sid Hoffa and Ronald Reagan, Leemore, a folksy grandmother, is well-liked by voters. She campaigns with ease, speaking to large crowds and small groups with equal leisure. She avoids controversial social issues, but champions law and order policies.

She is considerably more moderate than Diego, however. And more right-wing, particularly religious and Evangelical voters, tend to favor the former lieutenant governor over the current.

Diego is supported by some party establishment, but his star has faded significantly since his previous two unsuccessful runs.

He also angered many top Conservatives in 2020 when he endorsed state Sen. Brian Tyker for governor over former Gov. and Diego's former boss and mentor Sid Hoffa.

Still, many in the party's upper echelons are backing billionaire businessman George Velmar, who, at age 76, is thought to be too old, by many. However, Velmar has a massive bank account that he can use to inject his campaign with cash. And as a moderate who is outspoken on some issues, much like former US President Donald Trump, Velmar is lauded for his candor and his lack of fear of remaining politically correct.

Some party establishment members also support John Barian, although the little-known lawyer from Middleboro will need to drastically increase his name recognition if he has any hope of winning the state's top job.

Whoever wins for the Conservatives, it will be a difficult battle in the fall's general election.

Nationalist incumbent Gov. Jenna Duvan is running for a historic third, consecutive term. And while she and her NAT allies changed state law to eliminate term limits and allow her to seek a third term, she remains popular with many Damoignites for her emphasis on fighting white collar crime, protecting women's and LGBTQ+ rights, and fighting climate change.

Polls show a close race heading into November.

Conservatives are hoping Duvan fatigue, and violent crimes and property crimes, which have risen during Duvan's tenure, will prompt voters who previously backed Duvan to switch sides and support the CNS nominee.

The next counties to hold their elections in the Conservative governor's primary race will be: Joyner County, Shawheath County, Francesca County, Gregorson County and Dirkson.

Those elections will be held next Wednesday, May 15.