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Description
Overview

The California General Election of 2035 is considered to be one of the most significant realigning elections in the country's history. In the first 14 years of its existence, the California Republic had a very left-leaning "2 1/2" party system: the center-left Democratic Party was considered the natural governing party of the country (continuing over from the old United States); prior to 2035, it had won at least a plurality in both the Senate and Chamber in every election, and had won an outright majority in both in the 2022 and 2031 elections. The left-wing Progressive Party was jokingly referred to as the "Shadow Party", as they ran to the left of the Democrats but seemed to operate under the assumption that they would never gain a majority, or even a plurality. They consistently dominated local elections in the Los Angeles and San Francisco regions, but rarely finished above second elsewhere in the country and always finished second nationally.

Rounding out the First Political Period (a term used by historians to refer to the first era in California politics, from 2021-2035) were the Freedom Party, the center-right party, and the Copper and Silver Party, a regionalist party that only contested seats in the North Nevada, South Nevada, and Arizona regions and whose primary purpose was to secure a self-determination referendum for those three regions. Despite deliberately avoiding the word "Conservative" in their platform and name (which had become greatly stigmatized after the Second American Civil War), the Freedom Party remained the perpetual 1/2 of the system, gaining enough seats from rural voters and business interests to remain semi-competitive, but never seriously posing a threat to the Democrats or the Progressives on a national level.

Historians generally point to two main causes for the results of the 2035 election. First, the Recession of 2033 significantly reduced confidence in the Democrats' ability to govern, and the Progressives appeared weak and indecisive in their criticism of them. Second, the Reno Incident, which occurred just two months prior to the first round of voting. On 2 April 2035, a group of Copper and Silver Party members protested outside the North Nevada Regional Assembly, demanding that the city council (controlled by Progressives) allow the party to register and fly their flag outside the Assembly alongside the Freedom, Democratic, and Progressive parties. When the police confronted them, a miscommunication led to them open firing and seven protesters being killed. In the aftermath, Progressive leader Hector Ortiz made a major gaffe and appeared to implicitly condone the killings; in response, the Progressives lost nearly every Chamber seat in the Extra-Regions (a term used to refer to North Nevada, South Nevada, and Arizona) in the first round of voting, and the Copper and Silver Party saw a major upsurge in support which led to the majority of their candidates advancing to the second round and the general election.

On 2 and 3 November 2035, the Freedom Party won the first national victory in their history, decisively defeating the Democrats and Progressives in both the Senatorial/Popular Vote race and the Chamber elections; in the latter, they won an outright majority. The Democrats lost nearly half of their seats and were relegated to the opposition for the first time in their history. The Progressives did a little better, losing only 19 seats, but the result was considered disappointing all the same, especially given the party's near annihilation in the Extra-Regions. The Copper and Silver Party, building on the Reno Incident and their success in the previous elections, won the best results in their history. Only in South Nevada did they fail to win a plurality, just barely losing the popular vote total to the Democrats.

In the aftermath of the election, Megan Lu and Hector Ortiz resigned as leaders of their parties. The Democrats, humbled and doing some soul-searching in the aftermath of their defeat, struggled to find a replacement for Lu. After winning 80 seats in the Senate, the Freedom Party agreed to a minority coalition with the Copper and Silver Party in exchange for a self-determination referendum to be held no later than 31 December 2037. Holding power for the first time, the Copper and Silver Party sought to expand its platform beyond Extra-Regional Autonomy and further define its role in the political process. As the new year started, Freedom Party leader Marcus White took the oath of office and become the first non-Democratic First Secretary in Californian history.

Notes on the Political System:

California is a semi-presidential republic, with the President acting as the Head of State and the First Secretary acting as Head of Government. With few exceptions, the President is required to be politically neutral and his powers are mostly symbolic. California elects its government using a parallel voting system: the Chamber of Representatives is composed of single-member districts elected in a two-round "jungle primary" system similar to what California uses IOTL. The Senate is elected via proportional representation based on the overall popular vote in the second round/general election, with seats distributed geographically based on vote share. (For example: Most of the Progressive's Senators are from the San Francisco and Los Angeles Regions, since the majority of their votes came from there.)

Description
Overview

The California General Election of 2035 is considered to be one of the most significant realigning elections in the country's history. In the first 14 years of its existence, the California Republic had a very left-leaning "2 1/2" party system: the center-left Democratic Party was considered the natural governing party of the country (continuing over from the old United States); prior to 2035, it had won at least a plurality in both the Senate and Chamber in every election, and had won an outright majority in both in the 2022 and 2031 elections. The left-wing Progressive Party was jokingly referred to as the "Shadow Party", as they ran to the left of the Democrats but seemed to operate under the assumption that they would never gain a majority, or even a plurality. They consistently dominated local elections in the Los Angeles and San Francisco regions, but rarely finished above second elsewhere in the country and always finished second nationally.

Rounding out the First Political Period (a term used by historians to refer to the first era in California politics, from 2021-2035) were the Freedom Party, the center-right party, and the Copper and Silver Party, a regionalist party that only contested seats in the North Nevada, South Nevada, and Arizona regions and whose primary purpose was to secure a self-determination referendum for those three regions. Despite deliberately avoiding the word "Conservative" in their platform and name (which had become greatly stigmatized after the Second American Civil War), the Freedom Party remained the perpetual 1/2 of the system, gaining enough seats from rural voters and business interests to remain semi-competitive, but never seriously posing a threat to the Democrats or the Progressives on a national level.

Historians generally point to two main causes for the results of the 2035 election. First, the Recession of 2033 significantly reduced confidence in the Democrats' ability to govern, and the Progressives appeared weak and indecisive in their criticism of them. Second, the Reno Incident, which occurred just two months prior to the first round of voting. On 2 April 2035, a group of Copper and Silver Party members protested outside the North Nevada Regional Assembly, demanding that the city council (controlled by Progressives) allow the party to register and fly their flag outside the Assembly alongside the Freedom, Democratic, and Progressive parties. When the police confronted them, a miscommunication led to them open firing and seven protesters being killed. In the aftermath, Progressive leader Hector Ortiz made a major gaffe and appeared to implicitly condone the killings; in response, the Progressives lost nearly every Chamber seat in the Extra-Regions (a term used to refer to North Nevada, South Nevada, and Arizona) in the first round of voting, and the Copper and Silver Party saw a major upsurge in support which led to the majority of their candidates advancing to the second round and the general election.

On 2 and 3 November 2035, the Freedom Party won the first national victory in their history, decisively defeating the Democrats and Progressives in both the Senatorial/Popular Vote race and the Chamber elections; in the latter, they won an outright majority. The Democrats lost nearly half of their seats and were relegated to the opposition for the first time in their history. The Progressives did a little better, losing only 19 seats, but the result was considered disappointing all the same, especially given the party's near annihilation in the Extra-Regions. The Copper and Silver Party, building on the Reno Incident and their success in the previous elections, won the best results in their history. Only in South Nevada did they fail to win a plurality, just barely losing the popular vote total to the Democrats.

In the aftermath of the election, Megan Lu and Hector Ortiz resigned as leaders of their parties. The Democrats, humbled and doing some soul-searching in the aftermath of their defeat, struggled to find a replacement for Lu. After winning 80 seats in the Senate, the Freedom Party agreed to a minority coalition with the Copper and Silver Party in exchange for a self-determination referendum to be held no later than 31 December 2037. Holding power for the first time, the Copper and Silver Party sought to expand its platform beyond Extra-Regional Autonomy and further define its role in the political process. As the new year started, Freedom Party leader Marcus White took the oath of office and become the first non-Democratic First Secretary in Californian history.

Notes on the Political System:

California is a semi-presidential republic, with the President acting as the Head of State and the First Secretary acting as Head of Government. With few exceptions, the President is required to be politically neutral and his powers are mostly symbolic. California elects its government using a parallel voting system: the Chamber of Representatives is composed of single-member districts elected in a two-round "jungle primary" system similar to what California uses IOTL. The Senate is elected via proportional representation based on the overall popular vote in the second round/general election, with seats distributed geographically based on vote share. (For example: Most of the Progressive's Senators are from the San Francisco and Los Angeles Regions, since the majority of their votes came from there.)