FARNHAM, Bie. -- A generational battle in Biereland's Conservative Party has come to an end tonight, with former Gov. Ben Jordan winning his party's nomination for a fourth time.
Political newcomer 46-year-old Chris Kelly challenged Jordan for the nomination, and despite being outspent 6-to-1 and having no name recognition, Kelly received nearly half the votes in Saturday's CNS primary election.
Jordan won, but only by about two percent, a difference of about 16,000 votes out of more than 760,000 cast statewide.
His narrow primary win means Jordan will once again face Nationalist Gov. Joel Gruenwalder, who is seeking a second term.
The two men faced each other four years ago, when Jordan first sought an historic third term.
Though Biereland is a conservative state, Gruenwalder ran as a moderate, and has governed as a centrist.
The hardline Conservative Jordan has portrayed Gruenwalder as "a liberal in sheep's clothing," and has vowed to turn Biereland red again in the fall election.
Kelly, who had never sought political office before, cast himself as a "conservative alternative" to Jordan.
The two CNS candidates largely agreed on policy, but Kelly took some more moderate positions, like embracing cooperation with federal authorities, advocating for more conservative of public lands, and an increase in education spending.
Jordan, a staunch conservative, opposed all those positions, and cast himself as "the true conservative" in the race.
The votes fell along ideological lines, but at times, generational lines too, with many younger, urban and educated voters backing Kelly, while rural, elderly and blue collar voters largely backed Jordan.
During the campaign, which at times got heated, Kelly described Jordan as "old moldy bread that needs to be thrown out."
"Ben Jordan was a decent governor, but he's been around too long. He's like that loaf of bread that you have on your kitchen counter. It was good last week when it was fresh, but now it's turning moldy and green and nasty, and it needs to be tossed in the trash," said Kelly.
But Jordan fired back, questioning Kelly's conservative credentials.
"Chris Kelly calls himself a conservative, but he's really just a Nationalist-lite," said Jordan. "Chris is just one step lower on the liberal ladder than San Bartholomew, Joel Gruenwalder, Julie Grendhau, Ben Attenbrier, and Kellianne Kiersbright."
Jordan was referring to Biereland's leading NAT elected officials, including former Governor Bartholomew, former federal Sen. Grendhau, current federal Senator Attenbrier, and current Secretary of State Kiersbright, who is running against CNS Senator Driscoll Sherber.
At his election night party in north Brookings Saturday, Jordan told his supporters that his campaign is less about him and more about returning Biereland into Conservative hands.
"This race isn't really about Ben Jordan. It's about stopping the radical Nationalists from ruining our state. It's about making Biereland red again, as it always has been and should be," said a defiant Jordan.
At his election night gathering over in neighboring Farnham County, northeast of Brookings, Kelly told his audience that he had phoned Jordan to concede, to which the audience booed.
"This was a close race, but Ben Jordan won, and we have to respect that," said Kelly. "I think for my first run for office, for my team's first campaign, for what little money we had to spend going up against the establishment, I think we did pretty damn well."
Cheers filled the family restaurant where Kelly supporters had gathered.
When asked by reporters afterwards if he would endorse Jordan, Kelly declined to give an answer.
"I'll have to think about that and get back to you," he said.
Jordan said he would welcome Kelly's endorsement, but added, "I won't lose any sleep if he doesn't endorse me."
For his part, Gruenwalder phoned Jordan late Saturday night to congratulate him on his win.
Neither man would comment on their conversation.
In 2022, Gruenwalder beat Jordan by slightly more than a percentage point.
Since he took over the governorship, Gruenwalder has made conservation, education and jobs his main priority.
Biereland's economy remains fairly strong, despite a decade of stagnancy.
Conservative critics, including Jordan, say Nationalists have raised taxes, failed to invest in transportation, and neglected funding for the trades.
Small towns and rural counties have also been ignored or downright mistreated by Nationalists, according to Jordan.
"The disrespect this governor and his NAT cronies show our small, rural farming towns is just astonishing," said Jordan at a campaign stop in Gerbannon last month.
Gruenwalder supporters say the governor has made a point to avoid highly controversial issues.
"Joel is focused on jobs, jobs, jobs," said Joseph Schilling, an NAT operative who has worked closely with Gruenwalder and other NAT candidates in the past decade.
"In Joel Gruenwalder, we have a governor who is focused on making Biereland competitive again. Under Ben Jordan, Biereland's economy stalled and we lost jobs. Joel is bringing those jobs and investments back into our state. We're so much better off with Joel Gruenwalder in Brookings," said Schilling.
***Unofficial Election Results -- Biereland CNS Primary -- Governor***
| Total votes: 769,202 | 376,506 | 392,697 | |||
| 48.95% | 51.05% | ||||
| 100% | |||||
| Kelly | Jordan |
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