NationStates

NS Nation Name: Xath
Character Name: Edward Woit
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 71
Character Height: 6'1''
Character Weight: 168
Character Position/Role/Job: Independent Senator for Maine (2009-Present), Professor Emeritus at Bowdoin College (2009-2014), Full Professor at Bowdoin College (1991-2009)
Appearance:
Character State of Origin: Maine
Character State of Residence: Maine
Character Party Affiliation: Democratic-Caucusing Independent
Main Strengths: Strong scientific background, Very strong yet surprising support among young people and women, Strong campaign infrastructure since 2008
Main Weaknesses: Bad at making personal relationships, Two divorces, Awkward with others, Prefers to be quiet when with stronger personalities, Lacks major political connections
Biography:

Edward was born in Portland, near the southern suburbs though more on the outskirts of them. He found himself in a family that hardly was special in any way, with his biological father having been an older gentleman and a banker in the city. His mother, on the other hand, had gone to work in local hotels, having found the older gentlemen and offering herself as a way to help support Edward's eldest three daughters and two sons. They had been lagging behind in payments and food had become unaffordable for all of them to make ends meet. Still, it was hardly a forgivable or excusable reason, for when her actual husband returned from the war, they promptly split. Though they did not divorce to save face among their families. She went to be with her far more independent sister in Ohio, taking all but the two eldest sons, which was where Edward was raised. He attended elementary and high school there, gaining a reputation as a quiet boy. Still, he was fairly athletic, having played baseball for the school team and even becoming the captain his senior year. The sports helped him gain a group of friends and helped him avoid loneliness, but his personality was always more introverted. This led him to focus more time on studying and school courses. He was often found working on science projects and doing his own biology observations outside of class. He seemed to exhibit a natural curiosity, something that would follow him throughout his life.

Edward, still remaining in contact with his biological father through secret letters as to not anger his mother, sought his father as a way to be able to gain entrance into college. So with financial support and his smarts, he decided to abandon any potential in baseball. He chose Bates College, studying biology and chemistry to hopefully enrich his interest in the sciences further. There, he became extremely involved with book clubs and came to have a certain tick of always needing to have a book close by, something he would later describe as a way to escape the real world. His bookish attitude combined with his general ability to pick up quickly led him to be a highly sought after lab assistant among professors. Here he fell for a frequent lab partner and they decided to marry rather quickly, moving in together during junior year. He described it to his parents as being the love of his life and the truest kind of relationship. It was a short-lived relationship though, as she ended up withdrawing from the university and returning home to Oklahoma. It remained unclear why but the marriage ended soon after as Edward refused to abandon his studies. He would later visit and find out she had returned that had been her mother's dying wish as their father could not work, having lost an arm and leg during the war. She would later die in the late 2000's but it is believed but uncorroborated that Woit supported her with payments every now and then.

He worked in numerous laboratories in biology and chemistry, even taking a minor in mathematics to offer aid to some biophysics labs that had only recently begun to explore the field. He graduated soon after, and with the help of the connections he made, he moved to work in laboratories in California and began to work on his masters in biochemistry, an emerging field. His work on understanding biological molecules and their role in DNA transcription proved to be a worthy yet lengthy project. Edward at this time also first was exposed to politics, becoming influenced by moderate Republicans and Democrats after being fairly repulsed by the extreme liberal attitudes he saw take many undergraduates on campus. His family had been mostly moderate Republicans so while he adopted certain left of center views, he could hardly muster himself to undergo a major realignment. It was then that his biological father died, leading to him inheriting some wealthy which he promptly invested. He soon fell out of contact with his family as his mother remarried and due to his illegitimate status, decided it best to cut him off. It was a difficult time for him and he would later remark, albeit briefly, that this was the last time he ever truly loved, something that angered his second wife and may have led to the second divorce.

With his masters complete, he decided to go to Columbia University for his Ph.D. in biochemistry, one of the first schools to offer such a degree. He gained entrance and again continued his study of biological molecules, now expanding to how DNA is replicated and focusing on the way genetic diseases affected them. His time at Columbia was marked by the beginnings of the genetic and genomic revolution, creating rapid interest in many of the topics he had helped pioneer research into, gaining him notoriety in the field. He decided then, after becoming Dr. Woit, to go to work at Bowdoin College, returning to his home state, becoming a visiting professor from Columbia before a full-fledged professor with tenure. It was here when he became a favorite among students due to his standing the field attracting many postdocs, graduate students, and even eager undergraduates to his lab. He was known as a lively host once you got to know him and being invited to his rare house parties was considered a great honor. Still, his classes were considered rigorous with the professor being regarded as one of the most difficult for his tendency to simply teach as if the students were himself. He also rarely offered major help for his classes, focusing more time on research and less on grades which led to some distraught students.

He was regarded as a leading researcher, redirecting his research towards the application of genetic and genomic studies especially to combat cancer. He became an endowed chair for studying new therapies for cancer, including proton therapy and immunotherapies. Still, his greatest accomplishments here was perhaps a sense of reinvolvement in politics and college life. His new wife, a rather elder journalist, had helped him become more enthralled in these two communities. They had met while she had been writing a story about him, leading to a rather vulnerable encounter and soon a romantic one. Her familial ties to political operatives and as an outspoken activist, she influenced Edward to become outspoken in their similar views. He went on to do just that and he wrote an anonymous op-ed in a Portland paper, later revealing himself as the writer after pressure from the University, which criticized the cost of college and lack of greater diversity at the institution. Similarly, he also was one of many professors to offer their support for cultural affinity groups as well as against what was considered a 'hateful' person from speaking on campus. This made him known among many circles throughout the state, something that would prove useful later.

He became one of the most regarded voices on campus but declined to be the chair of several programs. He did make two exceptions, becoming the faculty advisor to Scientists in Politics, an organization focused on helping young scientists tackle issues from their unique perspective, as well as for a program helping students of color gain exposure to the sciences. He earned some additional notoriety for receiving an honorary Ph.D. from Bates College. In 2004, he offered and showed up in support of then-presidential candidate (Kerry stand-in)’s visit to the state and made himself a visible politically-involved faculty member. It was then that his second marriage went south. He had begun to fall apart with his wife of now five years, with primarily lack of interest from both of them leading to declining interactions. It ended rather abruptly when despite renewed efforts by Edward to love her that she left him without major action. It hurt him but with greater involvement in the college and political community mostly at her behest, it left him a place to involve himself with especially after he had made the rather difficult choice to retire. He had intended to use the freetime to spend with her but she had quickly made that no longer a reality. Nonetheless, this was the beginning of his entrance into the spotlight and after his second divorce and retirement from full-time teaching, he sought a distraction.

The then-current Senator had announced his intention to not seek reelection and had been a long-standing member of the Senate. So with some interest in seeking to join the fray and friends at his side, he joined the general race as an independent. Certain political leaders in the state along with younger activism groups advocated for recruiting Edward into running for the Senate, as the current younger candidate seemed unprepared. While the main Democratic party stood by their candidate as Edward entered the race, local groups in liberal Portland and other areas like Bar Harbor showed stronger support for the scientist. But he did not expect to win until controversy embroiled his younger opponent due to some campaign fund mismanagement. It thus led to greater focus between Woit and the Republican. Woit's campaign saw great use of social media and with a subtle alignment to then-presidential candidate Baharia, his very personal style of campaigning saw him make inroads. The Republican’s inability to properly make inroads with more liberal parts of Maine would prove decisive when Woit won though hardly a landslide and much closer than expected. His campaign was strong due to effective party support and a coalition of young voters and women that showed up in strong numbers, especially the former. The political campaign was largely seen as one running on the coattails of the same liberal trends Baharia had captured and similar high use of technology to canvass and reach voters. Financially, Edward did not raise anything of great significance and came short of surpassing his predecessor though it was noted that a greater share of his funds came from small donations, a noted improvement and something the media highlighted.

Edward's first decision was to caucus with the Democrats, stating that this would be useful for maintaining the ability to pass bills as his predecessor did. He has stayed in this situation throughout this tenure. His time in the Senate has been marked by a bills on helping regulate college costs, transparency, and even requirements for fulfilling student needs such as disability and Title IX programs. He similarly has authored bills to support funding and grants to colleges and scientific research, hoping to increase the scope of these programs. The NIH and CDC have also seen increases in funding and allowed focuses of study such as new cancer technologies due to his bills, but nothing of major significance such as stem cells due to Republican opposition. He tends to vote the Democratic position and contradicts it for situations often state specific, such as restrictions on fishing markets or greater trade options for large industries in Maine, like logging. He did not comment on the 2016 election after some rumored he would run and later offered a simple one sentence endorsement for the eventual Democratic nominee and did not go further. He has offered few public criticisms of the current President and Republicans, once again voting the party line the majority of the time though has spoken out against certain judicial nominees. Even this was mostly muted and while he has been a target of political attacks, he remains a fairly aloof member of the Senate and is considered by the media as a fairly bipartisan Senator if one can even get him to muster the energy to show up a meeting.

Other Info: Vegan, Often misquotes others/literature/etc.

I have read and accept the rules of the roleplay: Federal States of Xathuecia

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