Social conservative and Evangelical Christian businessman Tom Marelo pulled off what many political prognosticators thought was unthinkable: defeating incumbent Gov. Kate Morelda (N).
A year ago, polls showed Morelda leading Marelo by a modest but comfortable margin. But in the closing weeks of the campaign, polling started to show Marelo closing the gap, and eventually, the race became nearly a toss-up.
Harlyne Secretary of State Jan Scianden released the unofficial election results, which show Marelo just ahead of Morelda, with a lead of about 16,000 votes out of a little over one million total votes cast.
Perhaps the biggest key to Marelo's surprise win was his unexpected strength in Scandinaugh County, the state's second-most populous.
Scandinaugh County has traditionally been an NAT stronghold, but over the last decade, the county, which is home to a sizable working class population, has trended more center-right.
During his campaign, Marelo focused a great deal of attention on Scandinaugh County, campaigning there often. He made inroads with blue collar voters who in the past have supported the NAT.
Marelo only won a modest 52% in Scandinaugh County, but that proved to be a foreshadow of the rest of the evening.
He won neighboring Adams County and Saoca County, both Conservative strongholds, with over 60% of the vote. He also won the outlying counties of Scotsman, Islington and Le Courdier by large margins, but won Kalawamai County with only 51% of the vote, respectively.
Morelda, a former attorney general from Ashford's Landing, prevailed overwhelmingly in the state's most populous county, Bourneham, by a 63-36% margin.
She won Herell County, the state's third-most populous, and Windleton County in eastern Harlyne, with 54% and 53% of the vote, respectively.
In Hamith County, in the state's far northeast, Morelda won with 57% of the vote, a strong win but smaller than her previous victories there.
In rural Enore County in east-central Harlyne, Morelda lost by a larger amount than in her previous races, taking only 35% to Marelo's 65 percent, respectively.
When all the votes were tallied across the state's eight main islands, Morelda came up short in her bid for reelection, winning 48.98% to Marelo's 50.55 percent, respectively.
Morelda conceded the race at her election night gathering in southwest Ashford's Landing.
"This is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, but it is the outcome the voters have delivered, and I respect their choice," said a deflated Morelda. "It has been the honor of my life serving as attorney general and then governor of our great state. And I will keep fighting every day to make sure our state is cleaner, more inclusive, and more equitable for all Harlynians."
Marelo, at his election night celebration in downtown Harlynee, thanked Morelda for her concession, and pledged to make lowering taxes, cutting spending, and eliminating divisive social programs key parts of his agenda.
"I want to thank every Harlynian who voted for me tonight. We are a small state. We don't have a lot of people. So every vote really matters here in Harlyne. Every vote is felt and every vote has weight, more so than in larger, more populated states. So thank you, to everyone who voted for me. From here in Harlynee to up in Village-On-Shore and over in Alkirk and down in Cranby. Thank you.
"Together, as we move forward, I will, on day one, lower taxes for working Harlynians. I will work with my staff and with the legislature to lower taxes on working Harlynian families. We will work to make education fair and effective again. We will work to give parents control over their children again, instead of the state stepping in and telling parents how to raise and educate their child. We will work to fix our broken transportation in this state. We will get grown men out of girls' bathrooms. We will get homeless people off our streets so our businesses can be open without vandalism or crime. We have so much work to do, but I am honored that you have chosen me to do it, and I am ready to get to work," said Marelo.
The businessman from Adams County spent more than $6 million of his own money on his campaign for governor. His successful run comes on the heels of 2020, when he ran unsuccessfully against Morelda.
Morelda declined to say what her next step will be. At age 47, she's still relatively young by political standards. She could run for governor again in 2028, or run for the Federal Senate. She could also run for a lower office, such as the Western Harlyne Metropolitan Council, or Federal Assembly.
"I don't know what lies ahead for me. I haven't figured that out yet. But one thing I can tell you is, I'm not done fighting for and working for Harlyne," said a defiant Morelda.
Morelda was the first and to-date, the only woman governor of Harlyne.
When Marelo takes office on January 2, he will become the second Conservative governor of Harlyne and the first governor from eastern Harlyne.
-----------------------------------
**Harlyne Governor's Race -- Final Election Results**
| Tom Marelo (C) | 50.55% | 519,366 |
| Kate Morelda (N) | 48.98% | 503,234 |
| Other | 0.47% | 4,782 |
| TOTAL: | 1,027,383 | |
| VTO: | 80.87% |