The New Felix Election of 1990-1991 was a contest between Incumbent Vice President John Petersen and Progressive Liberal Governor Erik O'Neil, primarily revolving around economic growth and possible future stagnation. In the end, O'Neil couldn't deflect Petersen's popularity, and the Vice President was elected to the Presidency by a comfortable margin.

Background

In 1989, three term President Richard Buckerson announced that he would not run for a third term. The public, while generally satisfied with Buckerson's Presidency, still feared that an economic recession was on the horizon as the unemployment rate rose and the federal defecit continued to grow higher.

New Conservative Nomination

Conservative Candidates:

• John Petersen, Incumbent Vice President of New Felix
• Oliver Mitchell, Governor of Cameron
• George Riker, Senator from Vinkel

Governor Mitchell won the Vickson primary, heavily criticizing and launching vicious attacks on Vice President Petersen, stating that he was "Bukerson-lite" and would cave into Liberal attempts to increase the commerce budget. The Vice President recovered quickly however, with the endorsement from most Conservative Politicians including President Buckerson. Although Governor Mitchell would take the next two primaries by thin margins, Vice President Petersen took the next 39 primaries by commanding margins, successfully clinching the nomination.

Just before the Conservative Convention, Vice President Petersen chose Neagleville Senator Paul Pullman as his running mate. At the Conservative Convention, The Petersen/Pullman ticket ran on a platform of middle class tax cuts, education reform, and a five point plan to cut spending to reduce the federal defecit.

Progressive Liberal Nomination

Liberal Candidates:

• Stephen Sheldon, Governor of Schachten
• Michael Allard, Congressman from Bentsen
• Donald Bennett, Senator from Katyeria
• Frederick Clarkson, Former Secretary of Defense and Chief of Staff to President Bukerson.
• Erik O'Neil, Governor of Nvidia

Governor Sheldon took the Vickson Primary, winning 36% of the vote. Bennett came in second with 20%, and O'Neil came in 3rd with 18%. The next twenty primaries were taken either by Sheldon or O'Neil, with the other three candidates dropping out of the race. Eventually, O'Neil, using his momentum with the endorsement of an automobile manufacturing union, took the Harronia Primary in order to clinch the nomination one week before the nomination. On the day before the convention, he picked Sheldon as his running mate.

Social Democrat Nomination

In December of 1989, the New Felix Social Democratic Party Party announced that they would be holding primaries and selecting a pair of candidates to run in the general election. However, when early 1990 polling showed the social democrats with less than 10% of the election support, they declined to hold a primary session. Party Chairman Jerry Matheson eventually endorsed Governor O'Neil for President.

General Election

Campaign

After their convention, the Progressive Liberal ticket of O'Neil/Sheldon moved into a slight lead over the Vice President, who had lead throughout the primary session. The Convention focused on strengthening the automobile manufacturing and information technology industries, while launching a series of attacks on the Vice President's economic policy, and his choice for a running mate, Senator Paul Pullman, who they had deemed to be too inexperienced.

However, the Petersen/Pullman ticket regained the lead during the New Conservative National Convention. Day one opened up with attack after attack on the Liberals, saying that they wanted to raise taxes, lower education spending, and curb personal privacy. By the beginning of 1991, the Conservatives had amassed a 10 point lead over the liberals.

Three Presidential Debates and one Vice Presidential Debate were held in 1991. The first debate, held at Andersonville, New Felix, was considered a draw with neither candidate gaining or losing ground. The Liberals, led by Vice Presidential Candidate Stephen Sheldon, then intensified their attacks on Conservative Vice Presidential Nominee Paul Pullman, only to lose a debate to him four days later. Vice President Petersen is considered to have won the next two debates.

Results

The Petersen/Pullman ticket won the election handily, winning the vote by approximately nine percentage points and winning every region except for Western Continental New Felix.