The New Felix Election of 1992-1993 was one of the closely fought elections in history. Incumbent President John Petersen faced difficult prospects for re-election due to a major economic recession and a tough challenge by Senator Alexei Spalding. Petersen's main challenger was Progressive Liberal Presidential Candidate Leonard Sykes, who held the lead all the way up until the very end, when the Xyion Scandal broke out. In the aftermath of the scandal, Sykes's ratings fell rapidly and Petersen managed to hang on for a marginal victory.

Background

By the time the campaign began in late 1992, unemployment has risen to five percent, the GDP per capita had fell to $29,521, and the federal defecit reached a new record. Despite numerous foreign policy accomplishments by the Petersen Administration, his approval rating remained low and a majority of the populace thought he would be defeated in the upcoming election.

New Conservative Nomination

Conservative Candidates:

• John Petersen, Incumbent President of New Felix
• Alexei Spalding, Senator from Haronia

President Petersen faced a strong challenger, Senator Alexei Spalding. Spalding was very disatisifed with the Petersen Adminstration's economic policies, and felt as though Petersen was sure to be defeated in the general election. Despite strong support from Conservative Automoible Manufacturing Representatives, Spalding failed to win a single primary, and Petersen handily won the nomination. Just before the Conservative National Convention, Spalding announced that he would form his own political party, the Spalding Coalition, to run for President. Spalding chose former Secretary of Labor George Jennings as his vice presidential running mate.

At the Conservative National Convention, the main themes were experience, strong foreign policy, and fiscal responsibility. Featured speakers were Former President Richard Buckerson, Senator Alan Archibald, Vice President Paul Pullman, and President John Petersen.

Progressive Liberal Nomination

Liberal Candidates:

• Lloyd Thomas, Congressman from Andersonville
• Margaret Jahns, Senator from Kerronia
• Leonard Sykes, Senator from Bantha
• Jay Gallagher, Governor of Athlon
• Samuel F. Newman. Senator from Vaschnel

Senator Jahns started out as an early favorite, winning primaries in Vickson, Kallt, and Sanataria. However, Sykes, who had close ties to gasoline and automobile manufacturing representatives, managed to take every primary on the two Felixan Islands, and splitting up the liberal west with Jahns. In the end, it came down to Eastern Continental New Felix, who went with Sykes, who secured the nomination a week before the convention with a win in the Laettner Primary. The Progressive Liberal Party nominated Congressman Ivan Marchant of Castana for Vice President.

The Progressive Liberal Convention's themes were focused on economic recovery, with a series of attacks on President Petersen's policies. In the end, the convention was very forceful, sucessful, and Liberals had gained a hefty lead in the polls going into the official campaign.

Campaign

After the Liberal Convention, the Sykes/Marchant ticket held a fifteen point lead over President Petersen, leading him and Senator Spalding 49-34-14 percent. In response, Petersen took the gloves off, and began vigorously campainging around the nation. He accused Sykes of planning to cut education funds while increasing the military budget. Petersen also called Spalding's policies "too extreme for the working Felixan," in an attempt to gain back votes he was almost certainly losing to Spalding.

Despite these efforts, the liberals seemed to be coasting to victory. In early 1993, Petersen, Sykes, and Spalding faced off in three presidential debates, in which Petersen performed extremely well, citing his foreign policy accomplishments while accusing Spalding of being too extreme. Sykes's effectively criticized Petersen's economic policies, but Petersen is still considered to be the winner of all three debates. However, with only two weeks left until the election, the Sykes/Marchant ticket held a nine point lead over the Petersen/Pullman ticket.

Then, the Xyion Scandal broke out against Senator Sykes. Special Prosecutor Josh Schaller indicted Sykes of illegally receiving bribes from the oil company Xyion, in return to vote for proposals to allow Xyion to drill in Clancion Island Territorial Waters. Schaller also claimed that Former Xyion CEO Joseph Urgleston had admitted to bribing Sykes. Sykes insisted that he was innocent, but the scandal heavily damaged the Sykes Campaign. By election day, polls were showing a tossup between Petersen and Sykes.

Results

Petersen barely pulled off a victory against Sykes, winning 44% of the vote and taking Eastern Continental New Felix and Clancion Island. Senator Spalding did well with the endorsement of several automobile manufacturing representatives, winning 16% of the vote and performing strongly in Northeast Continental New Felix.

Aftermath

Two months after Petersen was inagurated for a second term, Senator Sykes was found not guilty on bribery charges. Shortly afterwards, Former Xyion CEO Joseph Urgleston was found guilty on several counts of perjury. After the verdict, Sykes accused the Petersen Campaign of intentionally slandering him to win the election. Although Urgleston was definately a New Conservative supporter, no evidence has been found linking him to the Petersen Re-election campaign. It is widely believed that had the scandal never taken place, Sykes would have won the election by a comfortable margin.