Marsha Dawes wins Marchenay's CNS senate primary

CHARRINGTON, Mar. -- Wealthy millionaire businessman Burke Azurjean has suffered a second defeat in Marchenay politics.

The former Bankcorp CEO conceded to downstate Assemblywoman Marsha Dawes last night, after the two Conservative candidates endured a hard-fought race for the party's nomination for federal senate.

The final numbers from Secretary of State Ari Kavarnath showed Dawes ahead with 50.74% to Azurjean's 49.26%, respectively, a difference of about 30,000 votes.

Dawes will go on to the fall election to challenge NAT incumbent Sen. Heidi Wolmach. The race is rated as a "toss-up" by most political prognosticators.

Azurjean was hoping to win his party's backing, even donating more than $1.7 million of his own money to his campaign.

But Conservative voters narrowly sided with Dawes, who has served southern Marchenay in the Assembly for years.

Dawes entered the race first, and criticized Azurjean for "coming to the table late in the game," although Azurjean declared his candidacy back in March.

His narrow loss to Dawes is the second painful election defeat he's faced in the past two years.

In 2022, Azurjean finished second in the Conservative primary election for governor, only 568 votes behind eventual governor-elect Mike Shannon (C).

"Once again, we have another extremely close election, and it appears the numbers are not in our favor," Azurjean told his supporters at his election night rally at a suburban Madagen wine bar. "It's clear to me that this race has been won by Assemblywoman Dawes, and I congratulate her on her win."

Dawes, at her election night celebration in Wynbrook in far-southern Marchenay, thanked Azurjean for a "robust" debate.

"Burke Azurjean ran for governor and he lost by a sliver. He ran for senate, and he lost by not very much. While I am grateful for winning my party's support and nomination, we have to acknowledge and recognize that Burke Azurjean has won hundreds of thousands of votes over the last two years. Hundreds of thousands, over a million actually, Marchenayans have chosen him with their votes. And while he didn't win, he has amassed a large amount of support, and clearly his message is resonating with Marchenayans. So Burke, thank you for a hard-fought race. Thank you for bringing important issues into the dialogue. And thank you for your willingness to serve Marchenay," said Dawes.

Azurjean admitted to reporters on election night that it was "frustrating" to have lost two close elections in a row. But he said he still believed in the people of Marchenay and the power of democracy.

"We live in a democracy, and we believe that whichever candidate wins the most votes has the confidence of the party. Marsha Dawes got more votes than me. The voters picked her, and I respect that," said Azurjean.

Still, the loss has to be stinging. Azurjean poured over $1.7 million of his own money into his senate campaign. And he poured millions more into his 2022 failed gubernatorial bid as well.

It's unclear what the future holds for Azurjean, who two years ago stepped down from his high-paying job as CEO of Bankcorp.

There's talk that Azurjean may be offered a political commentator position with the STAR Network. He may write a book, and may run for another office in the future.

"I haven't decided what I'm going to do next. I do know I'm not going to just quietly go away and fade into the background. We have too many problems in this country for good people to sit on the sidelines and not say anything. So I will stay involved. But what that involvement looks like, I'm not sure yet," he told reporters Monday.

Azurjean did pledge to campaigning for and helping elect Dawes in the general election.

"Marsha is a thousand times better of a choice than Heidi Wolmach. So I will happily campaign for her, if she wants me to, and I'll do whatever I can to make sure she secures that 49th senate seat," Azurjean said, referring to the number "49," which is the amount of seats needed for a majority in the senate.

Currently, Nationalists have 54 seats while Conservatives have only 42. The CNS will have to gain seven new seats, and hold all their current seats, in order to win back the senate chamber.

The Heidi Wolmach campaign congratulated Dawes on her victory in the Conservative primary, but quickly pivoted to attacking Dawes for her "radical" views.

"Marsha Dawes is extreme on abortion. She has voted to strip away woman's reproductive freedom. She's an extremist on guns. She's voted to let people buy assault rifles and lethal weapons that have no business being on our streets. She continues to back the extremist Benjamin Netanyahu regime in Israel in their illegal war on Palestinians. And Senator Wolmach looks forward to presenting Marsha Dawes' radical views to Marchenayans," said campaign spokeswoman Sarah Peoples.

Dawes hit back Monday night in an interview on the STAR Network, telling conservative host Brad Upkins that "Heidi Wolmach is one of the most dangerous senators in Mavocke right now," and that "her anti-Israel stance, her pro-taxes on families, her anti-children and family policies are literally killing and robbing Marchenayans."

Marchenay Senate Primary -- Conservative Party -- Official Results
	Marsha Dawes	50.74%	1,040,359
	Burke Azurjean	49.26%	1,009,927
			-----------------
	VTO: 18%		2,050,286