By LUCAS HALEY (#0449)

On Tuesday, the Nationalist Party, composed of the boys wearing gold badges and odd numbers, convened at their state party convention where they voted citizen Jack Fischer (#0401) as the State Party Chairman, Collin Ownsa Jr. as Clerk, and Junseo Deschenes as Secretary. 

At their first convention, the nationalists met from 7 to 10 p.m. at Hamilton Hall to discuss the Party’s standings and vote members to represent the party at the state level. Each county selected a member to run for each of the available positions: chairman, secretary, and clerk. Prior to voting, each candidate had the opportunity to deliver a speech in under two minutes, explaining why the party members should vote for them. In order to be selected for a position, candidates had to win the party majority of 136 votes. Due to the fact that most party members voted for their county representative, each election required three rounds of voting for a candidate to win the majority. After each round, the candidates with only marginal support were cut out from the race. With fewer candidates, citizens were required to vote outside of their counties and lend their support to another candidate. 

Fischer, current Chairman of the Nationalist Party, led a comeback to win the election in the third round. Going into the last round of voting, Jack held the fewest votes of the three remaining candidates. When delivering his speech, Fischer emphasized the need for the party members to elect a candidate based on skill, reason, and drive, rather than likeability and popularity. In his final remark, Fischer appealed to the party, saying “this gold badge represents our golden standard for government in the Nationalist Party.” When asked how he believed this improvised line had an impact on the election, Fischer said “it was really beneficial and definitely shifted their opinion of me.” The newly elected chairman made a point to exclaim that these meetings “aren’t comedy shows, they’re political rallies.” Clearly, his speaking skills had a profound effect on the crowd, as he garnered 143 votes to win the majority after the last round of voting. 

The majority of candidates opted to appeal to the party’s identity. Speakers used many different rallying cries to try and excite the crowd, including chants such as: “We are all Yellow,” and derogatory terms like “We don’t want Federalists (the opposing party) in our government.” Many quoted public figures such as David Goggins, and many took a comedic approach. Toward the end of the convention, however, the crowd grew tired of such cries and simply wanted the assembly to end. This was put on display in the final round of the last election, when seven of the eight counties agreed to unanimously vote for Ownsa Jr. as the party clerk.