America the Beautiful: An American Political RP (OOC)

[Newne Carriebean7]

Voting against the party line on one bill is unlikely to end a career, especially given that it is so early into the term.

That's Durant's thinking, and she hopes the electorate has a short enough attention span that the next thing Durant does or says will make them forget about whatever vote she did that was controversial.
It's worked for her so far.

[Gordano and Lysandus]

Jesus Christ, that number on the cost of delayed infrastructure is bad.

[Louisianan]

Voting against the party line on one bill is unlikely to end a career, especially given that it is so early into the term.

That's Durant's thinking, and she hopes the electorate has a short enough attention span that the next thing Durant does or says will make them forget about whatever vote she did that was controversial.
It's worked for her so far.

I doubt she was this controversial/dumb in her past elections. I don't think she would've been reelected, Southerners aren't as dumb as you think MTG is one prime example of a Maxine type person, but she's a freshman congresswoman.

[Newne Carriebean7]

That's Durant's thinking, and she hopes the electorate has a short enough attention span that the next thing Durant does or says will make them forget about whatever vote she did that was controversial.
It's worked for her so far.

I doubt she was this controversial/dumb in her past elections. I don't think she would've been reelected, Southerners aren't as dumb as you think MTG is one prime example of a Maxine type person, but she's a freshman congresswoman.

No she's not that dumb, but she had said plenty of controversial things that land her in hot water. She sort of likes the attention and uses the controversy as good ways for her campaign to fundraise money for her house seat. It's like Tenson said: "It's all about Maxine, me me me.." She's had to back peddle strongly against racist remarks and things, and I'll admit I wanted Durant to go to Cedar Grove and rail against the "establishment" of both major parties, but if that's too controversial I think I'll have Durant instead share those views with her son, husband or a congressional aide in her Washington Office. She'll also make sure to just hit against the Democrats rather than bluntly attacking her own party.

In her Private conversations she'll hold resentment on the 'establishment' while trying to put on a smile if she sees Whip Tenson in the hallway.

Yeah I can see the MTG-Durant comparison as clear as day.

[Louisianan]

I doubt she was this controversial/dumb in her past elections. I don't think she would've been reelected, Southerners aren't as dumb as you think MTG is one prime example of a Maxine type person, but she's a freshman congresswoman.

No she's not that dumb, but she had said plenty of controversial things that land her in hot water. She sort of likes the attention and uses the controversy as good ways for her campaign to fundraise money for her house seat. It's like Tenson said: "It's all about Maxine, me me me.." She's had to back peddle strongly against racist remarks and things, and I'll admit I wanted Durant to go to Cedar Grove and rail against the "establishment" of both major parties, but if that's too controversial I think I'll have Durant instead share those views with her son, husband or a congressional aide in her Washington Office. She'll also make sure to just hit against the Democrats rather than bluntly attacking her own party.

In her Private conversations she'll hold resentment on the 'establishment' while trying to put on a smile if she sees Whip Tenson in the hallway.

Yeah I can see the MTG-Durant comparison as clear as day.

I think Maxine is a sabotagette

[Main Nation Ministry]

If I'm needed, I have a plane that leads to Yemen when needed.

[Hanovereich]

What about my app?

[Dentali]

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Hanovereich
Character Name: Easton Pearce
Character Gender: M
Character Age: 43
Character Height: 5’5”
Character Weight: 150lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: Representative for North Dakota's at large district (2015-); 32nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division (2000-2013)
Character Country/State of Birth: North Dakota
Character State of Residence: North Dakota
Character Party Affiliation: Republican
Main Strengths: Has popular support in the state, good speechwriter
Main Weaknesses: Inexperienced orator; can sometimes say some inappropriate remarks at inappropriate times; as a conviction politician, he sometimes votes away from the party line
Biography: (Minimum 2-3 paragraphs) Easton Pearce was born in Fargo, North Dakota. At school, he was found to be a keen learner with a talent to remember facts- possibly from his mother, Whitney Pearce, who worked as a political editor for the Grand Forks Herald. Easton was found to be interested in journalism and military history- he said that he wanted to work as a military reporter.

In 1995 Easton was accepted into the North Dakota State University He gained a Bachelor of Science cum laude in History, with a dissertation on the American Civil War and the two sides' strategies.

After he graduated he applied for CNN, but after a brief spell as an intern his request to be a military reporter was rejected. Instead his father encouraged him to join the military, since the Pearces found the military an ideal location for their child- and it would fulfil Easton's ambition of military reporting, kind of... He applied for West Point and received a nomination from his local Senator. He was accepted.

After exceling at the academics side (and not doing so well at physical training), he graduated into the Class of 2000. He then joined the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment as a second lieutenant. After a tour of duty in the Kosovo Force, he was deployed, along with the 1st Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division, into Iraq. He was involved in building FOB Chosin, as well as, whilst at FOB Manhattan, in the occupation of Ramadi. In 2006 he once again saw combat, this time in Afghanistan. He patrolled Kunar Province, and was involved in a skirmish against local fighters. He shot a Taliban fighter whilst directing soldiers to radio to FOB Joyce, and commanding an assault by a squad of his platoon. For his efforts that day, he was awarded the Bronze Star.

He was also involved in patrolling Khost Province with the 25th Field Artillery Regiment. When he returned to the United States, he took a one-week leave and started to get involved in politics. His policies were mainly Republican, and thinking of himself as a conviction politician, he decided that, when he left the military, he would join the Republican Party. He was deployed back to Kunar Province one more time, in 2009. In 2010 the entire regiment returned to the United States, and Easton, after serving his needed time, became a Major. (He had been promoted through the ranks after his needed times of service). He became CO of Bravo Company.

After more deployments to Afghanistan in 2011 and 2013, and being considered for commander of the regiment twice (the 32nd Reg. CO was a Lieutenant Colonel, and Easton had performed all his necessary periods of time), he returned to his headquarters at Fort Drum and took leave. Throughout his military service he had, through his friends and family, kept abreast of the political situation, and had slowly garnered support in his local community.

In 2013 he resigned his commission. It has been said that, had he stayed in the military for a few more months, he would have been made the CO of the 32nd Infantry Regiment. Easton decided to go into politics. He won the Republican primaries- albeit by a slim margin of just 9%. His community in the at-large district supported him, and since the state supported the Republicans generally, his seat was seen as a safe one. In the 2014 election, he won with 58.6% of the vote.

In 2016 he was re-elected with 67.4% of the vote, on a platform of improving development standards in his state. Many of his supporters, including his old military friends, encouraged him to go for the gubernations, and it was believed that Easton would have won both the primaries and the election. However, Easton declined, saying that 'Washington DC is better than Bismarck'. In 2018 he was re-elected with 64.17%. In 2020 he had his largest majority yet- 69.04%, with all but three counties voting for him.

He has since decided that he will run in the Senate in 2022.

He supports abortion, unlike some of party, although his politics on abortion can change and he is willing to support bills to the contrary. He is an active climate activist, and lobbies in Congress to do more on environmental policy. Whilst he calls himself a conviction politician, he is also a politician, and can sometimes vote against his wishes if he believes it is good for the party. Generally, he votes in line with the party whip.
Other Info:

I have read and accept the rules of the roleplay: Hanovereich

Do Not Remove: DRAFT87421

Rightly or wrongly a pro choice republican does not exist outside new england, certainly not as a rep from North Dakota. Please make them pro-life. In addition being a climate activist is not very conducive to the republican party right now outside of a suburban swing district in New england or may California.

In addition I would like some details as to his highlights and lowlights while serving in Congress.

[Hanovereich]

Reedited it- anything else?

[Gordano and Lysandus]

For all our Senators, please remember that there is a vote on the floor right now to consider the amendment to implement the bipartisan agreement on the ARA.

[Alozia]

Dent... That post... it's something else, but I don't think it violates the rules of the forum, so I suppose it can stay on.

[Jovuistan]

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[Cybernetic Socialist Republics]

So this might seem like a weirdly specific but very important question: since republicans won Wisconsin in this timeline, it's safe to assume that republicans did better down ballot, right? If so, does that mean that Republicans manage to win District 32 of the Wisconsin state senate? As that was only decided by 612 votes, or around 0.3% and since RL dems carried this state presidentially by about 0.63%, to win Wisconsin Richardson would need to do at least 0.63% better.

I ask this because winning this seat gives republicans a super majority in the state senate, 22 to 11, assuming the same results everywhere else, which is fair because it wasn't exactly close in other races.

[Democratic Peoples republic of Kelvinsi]

So this might seem like a weirdly specific but very important question: since republicans won Wisconsin in this timeline, it's safe to assume that republicans did better down ballot, right? If so, does that mean that Republicans manage to win District 32 of the Wisconsin state senate? As that was only decided by 612 votes, or around 0.3% and since RL dems carried this state presidentially by about 0.63%, to win Wisconsin Richardson would need to do at least 0.63% better.

I ask this because winning this seat gives republicans a super majority in the state senate, 22 to 11, assuming the same results everywhere else, which is fair because it wasn't exactly close in other races.

I prefer not to change the district lines, a supermajority means GOP gets to dismantle a district

[Cybernetic Socialist Republics]

So this might seem like a weirdly specific but very important question: since republicans won Wisconsin in this timeline, it's safe to assume that republicans did better down ballot, right? If so, does that mean that Republicans manage to win District 32 of the Wisconsin state senate? As that was only decided by 612 votes, or around 0.3% and since RL dems carried this state presidentially by about 0.63%, to win Wisconsin Richardson would need to do at least 0.63% better.

I ask this because winning this seat gives republicans a super majority in the state senate, 22 to 11, assuming the same results everywhere else, which is fair because it wasn't exactly close in other races.

I prefer not to change the district lines, a supermajority means GOP gets to dismantle a district

with the senate alone? they just have a super majority in the senate, majority in the house. they can't override a veto. they can, however, impeach.

[Democratic Peoples republic of Kelvinsi]

I prefer not to change the district lines, a supermajority means GOP gets to dismantle a district

with the senate alone? they just have a super majority in the senate, majority in the house. they can't override a veto. they can, however, impeach.

We are not doing that, the Wisconsin Republicans would actually do it

[Gordano and Lysandus]

On the basis of the interpretation on the exemptions to the character limit rules as they have been clarified to me by Vaquas, I'm going to drop the rest of my apps.

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Gordano and Lysandus
Character Name: Jonah Prendergast Jr.
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 72
Character Height: 5’11”
Character Weight: 195lbs

Character Position/Role/Job: Governor of West Virginia (2017-); CEO, Covington Coal Corporation (1990-2002, 2007-2016); Secretary of Labor (2002-2007), CFO, Covington Coal Corporation (1974-1990); Executive, Covington Coal Corporation (1970-1974).
Character Country/State of Birth: West Virginia, United States
Character State of Residence: West Virginia
Character Party Affiliation: Republican

Main Strengths: Strong in-state coalition gives him leeway to be maverick in certain policy areas; free from donor baggage due to significant personal wealth; viewed with credibility by the right wing media for “running West Virginia like a business”.
Main Weaknesses: Skeletons in his closet regarding safety and environmental impact of his industrial interests; viewed as the archetypal crony capitalist and well of political corruption due to his influence over business and local union leaders; record of campaign gaffes regarding socially conservative positions; loss of heart in the Republican cause has killed his presidential ambitions permanently.

Biography:
Born in South Charleston, West Virginia on October 4th 1948 as the heir to the Covington coal empire, Jonah's life was reasonably predetermined by his privileged circumstances. The Covington coal empire had passed into his family through his father's mother, Dorothea Covington, and the Prendergasts had taken what could be considered very good care of that empire. Whilst his father, Jonah Prendergast Sr. owned and was CEO of the Covington Coal Corporation (Triple C), his mother was - herself - something of a political operative, of the dining circuit variety, influencing West Virginian politics through who she knew rather than what she knew. It was in this atmosphere that Jonah Jr. was raised, poisoned by the corporate-political swamp that made up his family and their immediate surroundings. The benefits of the family's wealth saw him enjoy a high class education, boarding at the Linsly School and then continuing in private high school until graduation in 1966, with good results sufficient - with his family’s influence - to see him to a good college.

Money, it seems, really can take you anywhere, and it was a relatively small matter to see Jonah to a high class university. Economics and Entrepreneurship at Princeton proved to be an interesting undergraduate course, though this'd be Jonah's first exposure to the 'real world'. Academically, he struggled in comparison to students who had worked significantly harder than him to get to this point. Whilst he would pass his degree (barely), he had no inclination to take further education. Withdrawn and socially stunted in an environment where he felt he had no 'supremacy', he failed to make many lasting connections at Princeton to anyone in a friendly or romantic manner, and relied much more heavily on those he made later through business and politics.

It was after college that Jonah returned to Charleston, and in 1970, he began to 'learn the ropes' in the family business, familiarizing himself with the operations of the vast mining operations and subsidiary businesses and industries that the Prendergasts had inherited from the Covingtons. This practical experience was, to an extent, more useful to him than his academic life, albeit it didn't require what could necessarily be described as a great deal of business acumen. The support of good, well paid advisers served him well, especially when he became Chief Financial Officer in 1974. As a high ranking member of the business hierarchy, it was here that he began to be involved more in both union negotiations and state and local politics. It was not high minded academic ideals that served him well here, but ruthlessness and cronyism, which came second nature to him. The backing of the Prendergasts was a useful commodity in West Virginian politics, for both their money and reach, and Jonah adapted well to the almost mafia-like application of that power to get what he wanted.

During a litigation against Triple C in 1974, not long after becoming CFO, Jonah met the young Martha Williamson, four years his junior, a highly capable conservative legalist with whom he had a very positive chemistry. Pursuing a relationship with her after the litigation was settled, he found in her a partner that helped drive and nurture his latent ambitions, and she found in him a generally adoring and supportive partner, their compatibility coming as some surprise considering his previously poor relationships. Marrying in 1975, they both focused on their professional work and it wouldn’t be until the mid-1980s that they had their two sons, Noah and Jonah III.

By 1990, his father had passed away and left the then-42 year old Jonah Jr in charge of the Covington Coal Corporation, operating as owner and CEO as his father did. Showing a greater loyalty to Republican Presidents, he gave generously to the doomed Burke Sr campaign in 1992, and then to the Burke Jr campaign in 2000, hoping to ensure both relaxed environmental and safety laws, and a more sympathetic eye from the Justice Department, but this didn't stop him from backing state and local Democrats who he felt could be convinced to ensure favorable circumstances for him.

He would be rewarded in 2002 with the position of U.S. Secretary of Labor, not merely on account of his political patronage but also his ability to push a hard deal with union bosses (occasionally through less than legitimate means). During his tenure as Secretary of Labor, he divested himself of his ownership and executive positions in Triple C to his brother, Jacob. Whilst Secretary Prendergast served business interests comfortably, ignoring regulatory obligation where possible and particularly neglecting the Wage and Hour Division, he was able to broker confidently with unions in some areas and did direct the Department to pursue some legal action for workers where it was particularly politically advantageous to do so. With this regard, he ran the Department with the same attitudes of patronage and access that he applied to his business interests.

By 2007, he moved away from the role and resigned to return to his businesses, spending more time in the private sector until 2016, when he once again divested himself of his business portfolio to run as the Republican candidate for Governor of West Virginia. Standing on a pro-business, pro-industry platform, he displayed what could be described as a 'moderate indifference' to social politics whilst focusing on economics, bigging up his business ability through his family's coal empire and decrying Democrats for their 'war' on the coal industry. Only he, he argued, could protect West Virginian jobs, and claimed he'd fight until he was "cold, dead in the goddamned ground before he let anyone take away the hard, black lifeblood of West Virginia". He would use some bribery and old-fashioned arm twisting to help reduce any backlash from union leaders, though some outcry still existed and the rank-and-file couldn't be so simply silenced. Upsetting the chain of right-leaning Democrats who'd governed the state for some time, he would go on to win office.

In office, Governor Prendergast indeed continued to apply his politics of patronage to dealing with both business and union interests, and twisting the arms of state legislators. With the election of President Wolf, he showed an affinity for Wolf's policies and was a vocal supporter of his, inviting him to the state and appearing with him at rallies confidently. His indifference to social policy meant that he largely ignored policy changes regarding abortion and LGBT rights for the bulk of his first term, though made efforts to ensure it was known that he is personally opposed to them. One social policy issue that Governor Prendergast hadn't overlooked, however, is the drugs crisis, which had plagued West Virginia. His response had been to respond with force, for the most part, pushing to loosen laws restricting police powers and increasing police funding. Controversially, Governor Prendergast has embraced racial profiling, with a public record of refusing to 'believe good local West Virginians are to blame' for the drug crisis. That said, trying to blame the drug crisis on matters of race wasn’t a solution, and so along with that obfuscation, and in order to improve statistics, he championed laws punishing doctors for overprescribing opioids and to make provisions for recovering addicts. A drive to deregulation had provided for a reasonable economic boom in West Virginia during his early first term, though the resurgence in industry has come with a distinct cost in West Virginia. Ecological damage increased, health worsened, and inequality deepened. Furthermore, he took action to confront West Virginia's infrastructure issues by engendering public-private initiatives for road-building - though it may not necessarily go unnoticed that the improved roads and railways tend to favor industrial interests over residential ones.

The announcement of President Wolf’s illness came as a significant surprise to Jonah. Despite his closeness to that President, he had been caught entirely unawares by it. With the political situation opening up, he became one of the earliest people to throw their hats into the ring for the opened up nomination, announcing his run with a large launch event at the Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs. Over the course of his campaign, he baked the rather nebulous Wolfist dogma with a strands of other economic thought and a generally populist message, along with some personal eccentricities (a fondness for naval expansion, for example). Briefly for a time achieving frontrunner status with a potent ground campaign, he faced a personal challenge in confronting the real face of a poor America that had been hidden from view from him for many, many years. Unable to fully sustain his Republican ideologies in the face of genuine poverty and economic devastation, he embraced higher government spending, setting him apart from a number of other candidates. At times, also, his lack of conviction (or interest) on social policies bled through in less guarded or rehearsed moments, including an incident where he described an embryo as a “cluster of cells”. During this period, he had various testy exchanges with the other Republican frontrunner, Governor Richardson of Florida; though would later reconcile with him in opposition to more rabid, far-right voices, preferring a Republican Party fit to govern in the 21st century. It would be a personal tragedy, however, that would knock Governor Prendergast out of the 2020 presidential cycle. The serious injury, and eventual death, of his grandson Adam in an accident at one of the Triple C mines in West Virginia forced him to prioritize the needs of his family over his political ambitions, and he returned to the State to be with his family. Adam, sadly, would not survive.

When the financial crash struck the United States, the Governor’s response was active and firm. Drawing on his solidified belief in higher wages and lower taxes, he pushed a recovery plan in state that would both raise the state minimum wage and slash business and income taxes, sacrificing an in-state surplus to try to stimulate a response. This has helped inure West Virginia against the most severe peaks of poverty, but the already brittle condition of the state means that it has not weathered the crisis well. Unemployment continued to be an issue, along with other social ills surrounding poverty. Infrastructure schemes in the state have helped fill some of the blanks, but on the whole, West Virginia was entering 2021 limbing rather than walking tall. That said, Jonah’s willingness to dedicate significant hours and energy to fostering a significant state-level response helped to secure for him the re-election he now sought in-state after dropping out of presidential considerations. He also, in the 2020 election cycle, promoted his wife Martha as a viable candidate to replace Senator (not-Shelley Moore Capito), saying that a Republican “fit to meet the economic challenge” was needed, and - with the power of the political machinery he had developed behind them - succeeded in securing for her the primary, and then the election. His program of government did not come without costs, however, as he has now wholly defunded the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, has sacrificed his own salary, and has moved to have the Executive Mansion taken away from the office of the Governor and sold, along with a whole tranche of state assets and lands to fund his recovery plan.

Having since reconciled with the now-President Richardson, he has been a vocal supporter of his plan to ramp up spending to address the economic crisis, and has campaigned hard to attempt to give him the political cover needed to defy usual Republican deficit hawk-ism. Through the campaign apparatus he built up to support his presidential run, including the Greater America PAC, he has attempted to nurture more Republican candidates of solid social conservative credentials, but willing to sign up A) to more stimulus spending and B) a low-tax, high-wage economy, which he views as necessary for turning the tide against the anti-capitalist movement, which is still a significant concern to his Cold War mindset, especially with recent events in China. He also sees his political apparatus as a way to help guard against the conspiracist right, trying to sever populism away from lunacy.

Other Info: Practising Southern Baptist. Married to Martha Prendergast. Has two sons: Noah (b. 1986) and Jonah Jr. (b. 1988).

I have read and accept the rules of the roleplay: Gordano and Lysandus

Do Not Remove: DRAFT87421

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Gordano and Lysandus
Character Name: Charlotte Sutherland
Character Gender: Female
Character Age: 58
Character Height: 5’8”
Character Weight: 141lbs

Character Position/Role/Job: Attorney General of Pennsylvania (2013-2021); Associate General Counsel, NLRB (2009-2012); Associate General Counsel, AFL-CIO (2004-2009); Attorney, Willig, Williams & Davidson (1988-2004).
Character Country/State of Birth: Pennsylvania, United States
Character State of Residence: Pennsylvania
Character Party Affiliation: Democratic

Main Strengths: Attractive despite her years; good connections with both national and local labor organizations; close to the national Democratic establishment and donations.
Main Weaknesses: Touched by various scandals from within the Pennsylvania DOJ from her time as Attorney General; openly feuding with the Catholic Church in America (strong presence in Pennsylvania); rhetoric has not matched achievements on criminal justice reform.

Biography:
Born in Wilkes-Barre, in the coal mining regions of northeastern Pennsylvania, on August 16th, 1962 to Douglas Sutherland, a coal miner, and his wife Bea, who was a stay-at-home wife, Charlotte Sutherland was born into a time of great economic anxiety and transition in the region. With the Knox Mine disaster only a few years before, the turbulent mine closures and move away from deep pit to strip mining threw the local economy into chaos, and resulted in the loss of her father’s job. Her mother was forced to take up secretarial work, and her father ended up working as a low-wage handyman. This experience was formative for the young Charlotte, who struggled emotionally with the burden of seeing her parents near-constantly exhausted by poor paying work.

Despite her humble upbringings, Charlotte proved to be an above average student, driven and opinionated, and clearly interested in fighting to not be trapped in the same cycle of poverty that consumed her parents. By the time she graduated from high school in 1980, she was not only a capable academician but already firmly interested in local affairs. She invested more than enough time into securing all the relevant grants and scholarships she needed to cover the bulk of her costs to attend the University of Pennsylvania, and was accepted into a Political Science course for her undergraduate years.

Whilst at the University of Pennsylvania, she became increasingly active as an activist alongside her studies. She protested Reagan’s anti-union stance in 1981, actively campaigned for Democratic candidates in the 1982 midterms, and in 1983, was elected as the Undergraduate Assembly President as part of the Student Government at UPenn. Enjoying a number of personal romances at this time, none settled into a serious, long term relationship. Following graduation, she chose to continue to pursue her education, remaining at UPenn for her Juris Doctor. Despite the great burden of her legal studies, she continued to be politically active, supporting Walter Mondale in the election of 1984, and again campaigning for Democrats across Pennsylvania in the 1986 midterms, as well as for Bob Casey Sr. for Governor that year.

Following the achievement of her JD, she remained in Philadelphia to join Willig, Williams & Davidson in 1988, the prestigious labor law firm. It was at WWD that she met Hank Freeman, a fellow colleague who had grown up in Philadelphia, and developed a relationship with him. Marrying in 1990, there were attempts to have children before it became apparent that Charlotte was - in fact - infertile. During her time at WWD, she continued to do political work on the side, with more time to dedicate to serious campaigning by the election of 1992, where she was an early and fervent supporter of Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, but moved over to the campaign of Arkansas Governor James Clifford after Harkin withdrew on March 9th; and she would go on to support then President Clifford’s re-election in 1996.

In 1998, she was retained by the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (a chapter of the American Federation of Teachers) due to the ongoing disputes between the union and state and local entities regarding the long-running schools crisis in the Philadelphia district. The underfunded, unsupported school district ended up in the middle of a number of protracted crises, from the Mayor’s usage of the district for political patronage to the Governor’s intent to see the district’s schools placed in the hands of private firms. Active in both behind the scenes negotiations and public litigations on the matter, she was ultimately unable to prevent the partial privatization of the district following the assumption of its operations by the state, but she did manage to significantly support resistance to layoffs of school staff. Her time with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (on behalf of WWD) would come to an end in 2004, when the AFL-CIO invited her to serve as an Associate General Counsel for the labor organization.

Her political advocacy did not stop in this period, working on both the campaigns of (not-Al Gore) in 2000, and (not-John Kerry) in 2004, deepening her ties with the national Democratic establishment. Her legal work for the AFL-CIO largely began to revolve more around national labor rights cases, where she worked on a number of submissions for the AFL-CIO as amicus curiae in a number of high profile cases. Her work in this area was considered good, despite the fact that the (not-Roberts) court often struck down employee protections. She presented the AFL-CIO’s amicus brief in the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway Co. v. White case in 2006, facing off against the Burke Administration’s Deputy Solicitor General who was a friend of the railway company.

Although she had supported Diane Clifford in the Pennsylvania primaries in 2008, she was an advocate of party unity after the closely fought and somewhat fractious primary, and worked hard on Rashid Baharia’s campaign to defeat (not-John McCain) in the election of 2008. Her eventual reward for this long standing support was to be tapped for an Associate General Counsel’s position in the National Labor Relations Board in 2009. Her work here was often frustrated by the deliberate obstructionism against the NLRB that had continued before and after President Baharia’s assumption of office, and in general, she found the NLRB to be toothless and moribund on numerous issues. She nonetheless applied herself hard to the task where she could, and avoided making any statements in violation of federal statutes regarding politics for appointed government officers. Nonetheless, by late 2011, she had resolved that she would do more good if she were to run for statewide office in her native Pennsylvania, and after moving from D.C. to Harrisburg, she resigned from the NLRB effective January 2012, and geared up for a campaign for Attorney General in that state, with the support of national Democrats and both state and national labor advocates with whom she had developed close ties.

Although she had no difficulty securing political support to win the primary for that race, the actual general was significantly tighter. She was attacked for having no experience litigating criminal law, and her opponent attempted to make out that she was wholly in the pocket of political and union interests, and could not run the Office impartially. She made a public commitment to recuse herself from any case where it might be seen that she had a conflict of interest, but doubled down on her belief that it would not be a bad thing for a pro-labor candidate to become Attorney General, and pointed out that (not-Corbett), as the last elected Republican Attorney General, had joined the suit to try to kill Bahariacare. In the general of that year, she managed to eke out a win 52.5% to 47.5%, underperforming both Senator (not-Casey) and President Baharia, but securing a victory nonetheless.

In office at Attorney General, she was generally standoffish and managerial, rather than overly active in the litigation of cases, preferring to delegate in areas where she was less confident (criminal prosecution) and focus more on civil matters affecting Pennsylvania. Nonetheless, she was still fully qualified to pursue criminal matters, and in 2014, led a strong and renewed legal response to the ongoing Catholic Church child sex scandal that had been particularly fierce in the state of Pennsylvania, pushing for the establishment of a state-wide grand jury, and set up both a telephone helpline and online reporting system. Her aggressive pursuit of this case earned criticism from the National Catholic Register and a number of US Catholic bishops, both inside and outside of Pennsylvania, who tried to cast her as “innately hateful and suspicious towards the Church”. True to her word, she remained uninvolved with a number of cases that involved Democratic politicians and corruption within Pennsylvania, though one of her deputies proceeded to close a sting probe into a number of Democrats in the state involved in corrupt practises. Although she initially signalled her willingness to investigate and clean house herself, when the state legislature appointed a special counsel to investigate itself, she stated that she didn’t want to take “any action which might pre-empt the special counsel”. This was largely considered a misstep, and her popularity took an uncomfortable hit. Also during her first term, she made the choice not to defend Pennsylvania’s statutory ban on same-sex marriage, further earning criticism from the Catholic Church, but earning liberal plaudits from national and state commentators.

By the time of the 2016 election, she was again an active supporter of the Democratic candidate, firmly backing Secretary Clifford for President, whilst also having to weigh her own re-election concerns, especially in the wake of the corruption scandal in the AG’s Office. Both she and her opponent ran on campaigns promising to clear up the Office in the wake of the scandal, and she unveiled a broad based plan to tackle the opioid epidemic, gun violence, and police brutality. 2016 was a bad year for Democrats, and her race was initially called by the Associated Press for the Republican, though as the night continued, she eventually pulled ahead by around 100,000 votes. A recount followed, which confirmed her victory by a sliver, and she remained in office.

During her second term as Attorney General, she took a more active role in cases than in her previous term, abandoning her prior standoffishness. Her investigations into child sex abuse in the Catholic Church continued, culminating in the controversial statement of her belief that “the seal of confessional does not, in my opinion, fall within the protections of the First Amendment, but in fact stands as a violation of that constitutional principle”. The report of the investigation into child sex abuse was released in 2018, and Attorney General Sutherland set up an entire section of the Attorney General’s office to work off of its recommendations and seek prosecutions. Her response to the opioid crisis was two pronged, seeking to both prosecute those involved in distributing illegal opioids, as well as supporting civil litigation against opioid producers. On violent crime, she supported higher sentences for violent offenders, and unlike many Democrats, did not shirk from supporting the death penalty for particularly violent offenders. On racial justice, her record was more mixed. Despite promises made, she made little progress with a number of cases to do with police brutality on account of both legal obstacles and threats by police unions to stop enforcement should action be taken. She did, however, join Governor (not-Tom Wolf) in calling for the federal legalization of marijuana, and supports the legalization of recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania. She has also advocated for expunging non-violent drugs-based charges, and for rectifying the disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine.

With the end of her two consecutive terms in January 2021, and thus term limited out of office, she announced that she was going to establish an exploratory committee to run for Senate in 2022.

Other Info: Practicing Episcopalian. Married to Hank Freeman (m. 1990). Has no children on account of infertility.

I have read and accept the rules of the roleplay: Gordano and Lysandus

Do Not Remove: DRAFT87421

[Lavan Tiri]

On the basis of the interpretation on the exemptions to the character limit rules as they have been clarified to me by Vaquas, I'm going to drop the rest of my apps.

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Gordano and Lysandus
Character Name: Jonah Prendergast Jr.
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 72
Character Height: 5’11”
Character Weight: 195lbs

Character Position/Role/Job: Governor of West Virginia (2017-); CEO, Covington Coal Corporation (1990-2002, 2007-2016); Secretary of Labor (2002-2007), CFO, Covington Coal Corporation (1974-1990); Executive, Covington Coal Corporation (1970-1974).
Character Country/State of Birth: West Virginia, United States
Character State of Residence: West Virginia
Character Party Affiliation: Republican

Main Strengths: Strong in-state coalition gives him leeway to be maverick in certain policy areas; free from donor baggage due to significant personal wealth; viewed with credibility by the right wing media for “running West Virginia like a business”.
Main Weaknesses: Skeletons in his closet regarding safety and environmental impact of his industrial interests; viewed as the archetypal crony capitalist and well of political corruption due to his influence over business and local union leaders; record of campaign gaffes regarding socially conservative positions; loss of heart in the Republican cause has killed his presidential ambitions permanently.

Biography:
Born in South Charleston, West Virginia on October 4th 1948 as the heir to the Covington coal empire, Jonah's life was reasonably predetermined by his privileged circumstances. The Covington coal empire had passed into his family through his father's mother, Dorothea Covington, and the Prendergasts had taken what could be considered very good care of that empire. Whilst his father, Jonah Prendergast Sr. owned and was CEO of the Covington Coal Corporation (Triple C), his mother was - herself - something of a political operative, of the dining circuit variety, influencing West Virginian politics through who she knew rather than what she knew. It was in this atmosphere that Jonah Jr. was raised, poisoned by the corporate-political swamp that made up his family and their immediate surroundings. The benefits of the family's wealth saw him enjoy a high class education, boarding at the Linsly School and then continuing in private high school until graduation in 1966, with good results sufficient - with his family’s influence - to see him to a good college.

Money, it seems, really can take you anywhere, and it was a relatively small matter to see Jonah to a high class university. Economics and Entrepreneurship at Princeton proved to be an interesting undergraduate course, though this'd be Jonah's first exposure to the 'real world'. Academically, he struggled in comparison to students who had worked significantly harder than him to get to this point. Whilst he would pass his degree (barely), he had no inclination to take further education. Withdrawn and socially stunted in an environment where he felt he had no 'supremacy', he failed to make many lasting connections at Princeton to anyone in a friendly or romantic manner, and relied much more heavily on those he made later through business and politics.

It was after college that Jonah returned to Charleston, and in 1970, he began to 'learn the ropes' in the family business, familiarizing himself with the operations of the vast mining operations and subsidiary businesses and industries that the Prendergasts had inherited from the Covingtons. This practical experience was, to an extent, more useful to him than his academic life, albeit it didn't require what could necessarily be described as a great deal of business acumen. The support of good, well paid advisers served him well, especially when he became Chief Financial Officer in 1974. As a high ranking member of the business hierarchy, it was here that he began to be involved more in both union negotiations and state and local politics. It was not high minded academic ideals that served him well here, but ruthlessness and cronyism, which came second nature to him. The backing of the Prendergasts was a useful commodity in West Virginian politics, for both their money and reach, and Jonah adapted well to the almost mafia-like application of that power to get what he wanted.

During a litigation against Triple C in 1974, not long after becoming CFO, Jonah met the young Martha Williamson, four years his junior, a highly capable conservative legalist with whom he had a very positive chemistry. Pursuing a relationship with her after the litigation was settled, he found in her a partner that helped drive and nurture his latent ambitions, and she found in him a generally adoring and supportive partner, their compatibility coming as some surprise considering his previously poor relationships. Marrying in 1975, they both focused on their professional work and it wouldn’t be until the mid-1980s that they had their two sons, Noah and Jonah III.

By 1990, his father had passed away and left the then-42 year old Jonah Jr in charge of the Covington Coal Corporation, operating as owner and CEO as his father did. Showing a greater loyalty to Republican Presidents, he gave generously to the doomed Burke Sr campaign in 1992, and then to the Burke Jr campaign in 2000, hoping to ensure both relaxed environmental and safety laws, and a more sympathetic eye from the Justice Department, but this didn't stop him from backing state and local Democrats who he felt could be convinced to ensure favorable circumstances for him.

He would be rewarded in 2002 with the position of U.S. Secretary of Labor, not merely on account of his political patronage but also his ability to push a hard deal with union bosses (occasionally through less than legitimate means). During his tenure as Secretary of Labor, he divested himself of his ownership and executive positions in Triple C to his brother, Jacob. Whilst Secretary Prendergast served business interests comfortably, ignoring regulatory obligation where possible and particularly neglecting the Wage and Hour Division, he was able to broker confidently with unions in some areas and did direct the Department to pursue some legal action for workers where it was particularly politically advantageous to do so. With this regard, he ran the Department with the same attitudes of patronage and access that he applied to his business interests.

By 2007, he moved away from the role and resigned to return to his businesses, spending more time in the private sector until 2016, when he once again divested himself of his business portfolio to run as the Republican candidate for Governor of West Virginia. Standing on a pro-business, pro-industry platform, he displayed what could be described as a 'moderate indifference' to social politics whilst focusing on economics, bigging up his business ability through his family's coal empire and decrying Democrats for their 'war' on the coal industry. Only he, he argued, could protect West Virginian jobs, and claimed he'd fight until he was "cold, dead in the goddamned ground before he let anyone take away the hard, black lifeblood of West Virginia". He would use some bribery and old-fashioned arm twisting to help reduce any backlash from union leaders, though some outcry still existed and the rank-and-file couldn't be so simply silenced. Upsetting the chain of right-leaning Democrats who'd governed the state for some time, he would go on to win office.

In office, Governor Prendergast indeed continued to apply his politics of patronage to dealing with both business and union interests, and twisting the arms of state legislators. With the election of President Wolf, he showed an affinity for Wolf's policies and was a vocal supporter of his, inviting him to the state and appearing with him at rallies confidently. His indifference to social policy meant that he largely ignored policy changes regarding abortion and LGBT rights for the bulk of his first term, though made efforts to ensure it was known that he is personally opposed to them. One social policy issue that Governor Prendergast hadn't overlooked, however, is the drugs crisis, which had plagued West Virginia. His response had been to respond with force, for the most part, pushing to loosen laws restricting police powers and increasing police funding. Controversially, Governor Prendergast has embraced racial profiling, with a public record of refusing to 'believe good local West Virginians are to blame' for the drug crisis. That said, trying to blame the drug crisis on matters of race wasn’t a solution, and so along with that obfuscation, and in order to improve statistics, he championed laws punishing doctors for overprescribing opioids and to make provisions for recovering addicts. A drive to deregulation had provided for a reasonable economic boom in West Virginia during his early first term, though the resurgence in industry has come with a distinct cost in West Virginia. Ecological damage increased, health worsened, and inequality deepened. Furthermore, he took action to confront West Virginia's infrastructure issues by engendering public-private initiatives for road-building - though it may not necessarily go unnoticed that the improved roads and railways tend to favor industrial interests over residential ones.

The announcement of President Wolf’s illness came as a significant surprise to Jonah. Despite his closeness to that President, he had been caught entirely unawares by it. With the political situation opening up, he became one of the earliest people to throw their hats into the ring for the opened up nomination, announcing his run with a large launch event at the Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs. Over the course of his campaign, he baked the rather nebulous Wolfist dogma with a strands of other economic thought and a generally populist message, along with some personal eccentricities (a fondness for naval expansion, for example). Briefly for a time achieving frontrunner status with a potent ground campaign, he faced a personal challenge in confronting the real face of a poor America that had been hidden from view from him for many, many years. Unable to fully sustain his Republican ideologies in the face of genuine poverty and economic devastation, he embraced higher government spending, setting him apart from a number of other candidates. At times, also, his lack of conviction (or interest) on social policies bled through in less guarded or rehearsed moments, including an incident where he described an embryo as a “cluster of cells”. During this period, he had various testy exchanges with the other Republican frontrunner, Governor Richardson of Florida; though would later reconcile with him in opposition to more rabid, far-right voices, preferring a Republican Party fit to govern in the 21st century. It would be a personal tragedy, however, that would knock Governor Prendergast out of the 2020 presidential cycle. The serious injury, and eventual death, of his grandson Adam in an accident at one of the Triple C mines in West Virginia forced him to prioritize the needs of his family over his political ambitions, and he returned to the State to be with his family. Adam, sadly, would not survive.

When the financial crash struck the United States, the Governor’s response was active and firm. Drawing on his solidified belief in higher wages and lower taxes, he pushed a recovery plan in state that would both raise the state minimum wage and slash business and income taxes, sacrificing an in-state surplus to try to stimulate a response. This has helped inure West Virginia against the most severe peaks of poverty, but the already brittle condition of the state means that it has not weathered the crisis well. Unemployment continued to be an issue, along with other social ills surrounding poverty. Infrastructure schemes in the state have helped fill some of the blanks, but on the whole, West Virginia was entering 2021 limbing rather than walking tall. That said, Jonah’s willingness to dedicate significant hours and energy to fostering a significant state-level response helped to secure for him the re-election he now sought in-state after dropping out of presidential considerations. He also, in the 2020 election cycle, promoted his wife Martha as a viable candidate to replace Senator (not-Shelley Moore Capito), saying that a Republican “fit to meet the economic challenge” was needed, and - with the power of the political machinery he had developed behind them - succeeded in securing for her the primary, and then the election. His program of government did not come without costs, however, as he has now wholly defunded the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, has sacrificed his own salary, and has moved to have the Executive Mansion taken away from the office of the Governor and sold, along with a whole tranche of state assets and lands to fund his recovery plan.

Having since reconciled with the now-President Richardson, he has been a vocal supporter of his plan to ramp up spending to address the economic crisis, and has campaigned hard to attempt to give him the political cover needed to defy usual Republican deficit hawk-ism. Through the campaign apparatus he built up to support his presidential run, including the Greater America PAC, he has attempted to nurture more Republican candidates of solid social conservative credentials, but willing to sign up A) to more stimulus spending and B) a low-tax, high-wage economy, which he views as necessary for turning the tide against the anti-capitalist movement, which is still a significant concern to his Cold War mindset, especially with recent events in China. He also sees his political apparatus as a way to help guard against the conspiracist right, trying to sever populism away from lunacy.

Other Info: Practising Southern Baptist. Married to Martha Prendergast. Has two sons: Noah (b. 1986) and Jonah Jr. (b. 1988).

I have read and accept the rules of the roleplay: Gordano and Lysandus

Do Not Remove: DRAFT87421

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Gordano and Lysandus
Character Name: Charlotte Sutherland
Character Gender: Female
Character Age: 58
Character Height: 5’8”
Character Weight: 141lbs

Character Position/Role/Job: Attorney General of Pennsylvania (2013-2021); Associate General Counsel, NLRB (2009-2012); Associate General Counsel, AFL-CIO (2004-2009); Attorney, Willig, Williams & Davidson (1988-2004).
Character Country/State of Birth: Pennsylvania, United States
Character State of Residence: Pennsylvania
Character Party Affiliation: Democratic

Main Strengths: Attractive despite her years; good connections with both national and local labor organizations; close to the national Democratic establishment and donations.
Main Weaknesses: Touched by various scandals from within the Pennsylvania DOJ from her time as Attorney General; openly feuding with the Catholic Church in America (strong presence in Pennsylvania); rhetoric has not matched achievements on criminal justice reform.

Biography:
Born in Wilkes-Barre, in the coal mining regions of northeastern Pennsylvania, on August 16th, 1962 to Douglas Sutherland, a coal miner, and his wife Bea, who was a stay-at-home wife, Charlotte Sutherland was born into a time of great economic anxiety and transition in the region. With the Knox Mine disaster only a few years before, the turbulent mine closures and move away from deep pit to strip mining threw the local economy into chaos, and resulted in the loss of her father’s job. Her mother was forced to take up secretarial work, and her father ended up working as a low-wage handyman. This experience was formative for the young Charlotte, who struggled emotionally with the burden of seeing her parents near-constantly exhausted by poor paying work.

Despite her humble upbringings, Charlotte proved to be an above average student, driven and opinionated, and clearly interested in fighting to not be trapped in the same cycle of poverty that consumed her parents. By the time she graduated from high school in 1980, she was not only a capable academician but already firmly interested in local affairs. She invested more than enough time into securing all the relevant grants and scholarships she needed to cover the bulk of her costs to attend the University of Pennsylvania, and was accepted into a Political Science course for her undergraduate years.

Whilst at the University of Pennsylvania, she became increasingly active as an activist alongside her studies. She protested Reagan’s anti-union stance in 1981, actively campaigned for Democratic candidates in the 1982 midterms, and in 1983, was elected as the Undergraduate Assembly President as part of the Student Government at UPenn. Enjoying a number of personal romances at this time, none settled into a serious, long term relationship. Following graduation, she chose to continue to pursue her education, remaining at UPenn for her Juris Doctor. Despite the great burden of her legal studies, she continued to be politically active, supporting Walter Mondale in the election of 1984, and again campaigning for Democrats across Pennsylvania in the 1986 midterms, as well as for Bob Casey Sr. for Governor that year.

Following the achievement of her JD, she remained in Philadelphia to join Willig, Williams & Davidson in 1988, the prestigious labor law firm. It was at WWD that she met Hank Freeman, a fellow colleague who had grown up in Philadelphia, and developed a relationship with him. Marrying in 1990, there were attempts to have children before it became apparent that Charlotte was - in fact - infertile. During her time at WWD, she continued to do political work on the side, with more time to dedicate to serious campaigning by the election of 1992, where she was an early and fervent supporter of Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, but moved over to the campaign of Arkansas Governor James Clifford after Harkin withdrew on March 9th; and she would go on to support then President Clifford’s re-election in 1996.

In 1998, she was retained by the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (a chapter of the American Federation of Teachers) due to the ongoing disputes between the union and state and local entities regarding the long-running schools crisis in the Philadelphia district. The underfunded, unsupported school district ended up in the middle of a number of protracted crises, from the Mayor’s usage of the district for political patronage to the Governor’s intent to see the district’s schools placed in the hands of private firms. Active in both behind the scenes negotiations and public litigations on the matter, she was ultimately unable to prevent the partial privatization of the district following the assumption of its operations by the state, but she did manage to significantly support resistance to layoffs of school staff. Her time with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (on behalf of WWD) would come to an end in 2004, when the AFL-CIO invited her to serve as an Associate General Counsel for the labor organization.

Her political advocacy did not stop in this period, working on both the campaigns of (not-Al Gore) in 2000, and (not-John Kerry) in 2004, deepening her ties with the national Democratic establishment. Her legal work for the AFL-CIO largely began to revolve more around national labor rights cases, where she worked on a number of submissions for the AFL-CIO as amicus curiae in a number of high profile cases. Her work in this area was considered good, despite the fact that the (not-Roberts) court often struck down employee protections. She presented the AFL-CIO’s amicus brief in the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway Co. v. White case in 2006, facing off against the Burke Administration’s Deputy Solicitor General who was a friend of the railway company.

Although she had supported Diane Clifford in the Pennsylvania primaries in 2008, she was an advocate of party unity after the closely fought and somewhat fractious primary, and worked hard on Rashid Baharia’s campaign to defeat (not-John McCain) in the election of 2008. Her eventual reward for this long standing support was to be tapped for an Associate General Counsel’s position in the National Labor Relations Board in 2009. Her work here was often frustrated by the deliberate obstructionism against the NLRB that had continued before and after President Baharia’s assumption of office, and in general, she found the NLRB to be toothless and moribund on numerous issues. She nonetheless applied herself hard to the task where she could, and avoided making any statements in violation of federal statutes regarding politics for appointed government officers. Nonetheless, by late 2011, she had resolved that she would do more good if she were to run for statewide office in her native Pennsylvania, and after moving from D.C. to Harrisburg, she resigned from the NLRB effective January 2012, and geared up for a campaign for Attorney General in that state, with the support of national Democrats and both state and national labor advocates with whom she had developed close ties.

Although she had no difficulty securing political support to win the primary for that race, the actual general was significantly tighter. She was attacked for having no experience litigating criminal law, and her opponent attempted to make out that she was wholly in the pocket of political and union interests, and could not run the Office impartially. She made a public commitment to recuse herself from any case where it might be seen that she had a conflict of interest, but doubled down on her belief that it would not be a bad thing for a pro-labor candidate to become Attorney General, and pointed out that (not-Corbett), as the last elected Republican Attorney General, had joined the suit to try to kill Bahariacare. In the general of that year, she managed to eke out a win 52.5% to 47.5%, underperforming both Senator (not-Casey) and President Baharia, but securing a victory nonetheless.

In office at Attorney General, she was generally standoffish and managerial, rather than overly active in the litigation of cases, preferring to delegate in areas where she was less confident (criminal prosecution) and focus more on civil matters affecting Pennsylvania. Nonetheless, she was still fully qualified to pursue criminal matters, and in 2014, led a strong and renewed legal response to the ongoing Catholic Church child sex scandal that had been particularly fierce in the state of Pennsylvania, pushing for the establishment of a state-wide grand jury, and set up both a telephone helpline and online reporting system. Her aggressive pursuit of this case earned criticism from the National Catholic Register and a number of US Catholic bishops, both inside and outside of Pennsylvania, who tried to cast her as “innately hateful and suspicious towards the Church”. True to her word, she remained uninvolved with a number of cases that involved Democratic politicians and corruption within Pennsylvania, though one of her deputies proceeded to close a sting probe into a number of Democrats in the state involved in corrupt practises. Although she initially signalled her willingness to investigate and clean house herself, when the state legislature appointed a special counsel to investigate itself, she stated that she didn’t want to take “any action which might pre-empt the special counsel”. This was largely considered a misstep, and her popularity took an uncomfortable hit. Also during her first term, she made the choice not to defend Pennsylvania’s statutory ban on same-sex marriage, further earning criticism from the Catholic Church, but earning liberal plaudits from national and state commentators.

By the time of the 2016 election, she was again an active supporter of the Democratic candidate, firmly backing Secretary Clifford for President, whilst also having to weigh her own re-election concerns, especially in the wake of the corruption scandal in the AG’s Office. Both she and her opponent ran on campaigns promising to clear up the Office in the wake of the scandal, and she unveiled a broad based plan to tackle the opioid epidemic, gun violence, and police brutality. 2016 was a bad year for Democrats, and her race was initially called by the Associated Press for the Republican, though as the night continued, she eventually pulled ahead by around 100,000 votes. A recount followed, which confirmed her victory by a sliver, and she remained in office.

During her second term as Attorney General, she took a more active role in cases than in her previous term, abandoning her prior standoffishness. Her investigations into child sex abuse in the Catholic Church continued, culminating in the controversial statement of her belief that “the seal of confessional does not, in my opinion, fall within the protections of the First Amendment, but in fact stands as a violation of that constitutional principle”. The report of the investigation into child sex abuse was released in 2018, and Attorney General Sutherland set up an entire section of the Attorney General’s office to work off of its recommendations and seek prosecutions. Her response to the opioid crisis was two pronged, seeking to both prosecute those involved in distributing illegal opioids, as well as supporting civil litigation against opioid producers. On violent crime, she supported higher sentences for violent offenders, and unlike many Democrats, did not shirk from supporting the death penalty for particularly violent offenders. On racial justice, her record was more mixed. Despite promises made, she made little progress with a number of cases to do with police brutality on account of both legal obstacles and threats by police unions to stop enforcement should action be taken. She did, however, join Governor (not-Tom Wolf) in calling for the federal legalization of marijuana, and supports the legalization of recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania. She has also advocated for expunging non-violent drugs-based charges, and for rectifying the disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine.

With the end of her two consecutive terms in January 2021, and thus term limited out of office, she announced that she was going to establish an exploratory committee to run for Senate in 2022.

Other Info: Practicing Episcopalian. Married to Hank Freeman (m. 1990). Has no children on account of infertility.

I have read and accept the rules of the roleplay: Gordano and Lysandus

Do Not Remove: DRAFT87421

JONAH

[Velahor]

As a companion app to Gord's Jonah Prendergast application, please see my application for Senator Martha Prendergast.

Character Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Velahor
Character Name: Martha Marie Prendergast (maiden name Williamson)
Character Gender: Female
Character Age: 69
Character Height: 5’8
Character Weight: 161
Character Position/Role/Job: United States Senator from West Virginia and First Lady of West Virginia

Work History:
Staff Attorney for the not-Falwell family (2003-2020)
In-House Counsel at University of West Virginia (1994-2003)
Stay-At-Home Mother (1986-1994)
Corporate Attorney at Bowles-Rice, Morgantown, West Virginia (1974-1986)

Appearance:

Character State of Origin: Georgia
Character State of Residence: West Virginia & Virginia
Character Party Affiliation: Republican

Main Strengths:
-Wealthy through marriage, but also independently wealthy through legal career and inheritance
-Deep connections: Her husband, Jonah, is Governor of West Virginia. Her father was chairman of the Federalist Society and a Georgia State Supreme Court judge. She also was the personal attorney for the not-Falwell family for numerous years.
-She is highly competent as a debater and can be quite persuasive. She is also very good at understanding how law and legislation works. Finally, she is quite strategic. All of these speak to her decades of legal experience.
-A nearly 40-year marriage to Jonah Prendergast has developed both of their characters in ways that their respective strengths often compensate for the other’s weaknesses. The media has depicted them as a political “power couple,” the GOP’s answer to the Cliffords.

Main Weaknesses:
-Zealously tied to the moral majority/war on drugs/evangelical sector of the conservative movement, in contrast to her husband’s economic-minded approach. However, she tapered that message back a bit in order to get elected to Senate.
-Recent tragic death of grandson has left her grief-stricken and in existential crisis.
-While an exceptional mother and adoring wife, she struggles to maintain stability in other relationships due to her personality. This is because she is passive-aggressively elitist, judgmental, and competitive, especially toward other women.
-Much more tactically intelligent than book smart. Very much a one-track-mind who is smart at her job but less intelligent in other aspects like math or science. She also often delegates her most difficult duties to aides, clerks, other Senators, family members, and basically anyone else who will do it for her.
-Not spectacularly charismatic or flashy, very straighforward.

Biography: Martha Marie Williamson was born in 1952, in a wealthy suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. Her father was a wealthy, successful lawyer in the Atlanta area and her mother was a stay-at-home mother of 6 children. They were both devout Baptists, and raised their children as such. Martha was the oldest of the 6, and took on a leader role in their household from a young age.

She was very successful in school and went to Vanderbilt Law School, just like her father did. But she did poorly in her first year of law school, and spent most of the rest of law school trying, and failing to improve her GPA. She still managed graduate, but near the bottom of her class.

After graduation, she couldn’t find any jobs in the Atlanta area. In fact, she only received one job offer after applying for more than 30 at a job fair, an associate position at Bowles-Rice, a mid-level firm in Morgantown, West Virginia. Too proud to ask her father to help get her in a job in Atlanta, she accepted the job and moved to West Virginia all on her own at 25 years old.

Stuck out of her element, away from her status as Southern aristocracy and the social obligations it came with, Martha honed in on her work. The young girl, who had been average at best in the law school classroom, began to excel as an associate attorney focused on a broad spectrum of corporate legal concerns. She was especially noted for her work on environmental, property, and labor law disputes. Additionally, the big-fish-in-small-pond factor of her highly-ranked Vanderbilt education, compared to her colleagues’ education at lowly-ranked WVU Law School, gave her some prestige in West Virginia that may not have been present elsewhere. She built a reputation as a scrappy fighter in the courtroom, while simultaneously earning the respect of judges who appreciated her thorough yet simple arguing style.

While she was at Bowles-Rice in 1974, she met Jonah Prendergast, the CFO of a large coal company his family owned. She was the opposing counsel questioning him in a deposition, and while they were on opposite sides, the chemistry was undeniable. Soon after, the suit was settled out-of-court, and Jonah soon asked her out.

They dated for about a year and soon married. They made the choice to focus on their careers and wait for children until she was in her thirties. During this time, she made partner at her firm, and was making a significantly large income (about $200k/year). Her relationship with Jonah was ultimately beneficial to her success; it became easy to draw in some of the biggest clients in the state by tapping into her husband’s strongly-established in-state business relationships.

In 1986, she had the first Prendergast child, Noah. In 1988 came one more, Jonah III. She lived at home with the children until they were old enough to be in school, then she returned to work, this time as in-house counsel for University of West Virginia in 1994. She worked in that position for 9 years, defending the university in civil litigation.

But in 2003, she began to grow tired of the public university system and its progressive nature, so she applied for a in-house counsel position at Liberty University, a school she had connections with through her Baptist family. She interviewed for the position, but another candidate was chosen.

But that didn’t mean the not-Falwells didn’t like her. They instead saw another purpose for her given her talent and tenaciousness. Thus, she was offered a job as the (not-Falwell) family’s personal lawyer. No stranger to legal battles, the (not-Falwells) counted themselves lucky to have such a zealous Christian and such a ruthless corporate lawyer on their side.

In 2016, she became the First Lady of West Virginia when her husband Jonah was elected Governor of West Virginia. She re-established West Virginia as her primary residence, selling the family’s second home in Lynchburg, Virginia and instead only maintaining a small condo there for work purposes. In early 2019, her father Joseph Williamson passed away.

In early 2020, Martha fully resigned from her position as attorney for the not-Falwell family, having scaled back her duties over the years since Jonah’s election. Part of her reason for leaving was also because of the scandal involving not-Falwell Jr. which became public in August 2020.

Soon after leaving that position, in the midst of her husband’s candidacy for President, news came out that not-Shelley Moore Capito was declining to run for re-election. After much deliberation with Jonah, it was decided that Martha would run for Senate. Life on two campaigns was hectic for the Prendergasts, but Martha loved every minute of it. Her strategic mind, combined with the in-state political machine developed by her husband, began to help both of their momentum surge.

But tragedy struck the Prendergasts when their grandson Adam was injured, and eventually died, due to an accident at one of the Triple C mines. The dual campaigns had previously been an all-hands-on-deck effort for the whole family, and the grieving brought them both to a halt.

When things felt right, the couple discussed their strategy and options. Jonah decided to step down from the Presidential race to focus on himself. Martha suspended her campaign for several weeks, but restarted operations and managed to win the primary against a weakened field.

But the general election would prove more difficult. Martha lost ground early on as her grief caused her campaign schedule to slow. In September, she turned things around with a big fundraiser that brought in a lot from some of her connections from her days as counsel for WVU. That money allowed her to focus on television ads, which boosted her polling and improved her spirits.

She began campaigning heavily in coal-mining towns, leaning on economic rhetoric like that of her husband rather than the socially-conservative kind of campaigning she practiced in the primary. By late October, she’d turned what had at one point been an 8% polling deficit to a 3% lead.

But the Election Day victory was unprecedented. On Fox News in the days leading up to the election, not-Tucker Carlson depicted Martha’s campaign favorably, as one of triumph over grief. That narrative turned out Republicans statewide at a high level, as they made it a mission to support the First Lady of their popular Governor. She ended up winning by a margin of 6%, with exit polls at one point showing a margin of around 11% as she did especially well with in-person voters.

Other Info:
Martha’s father Joseph Williamson was chairman of the Federalist Society, and was a prominent former corporate attorney and then Georgia State Supreme Court judge until his recent passing.

Martha has never drank, smoked, or done drugs.

Martha often competes in women’s amateur golf competitions, and in the 1980s competed in the US Women’s Amateur 4 times and the British Women’s Amateur twice. Her father taught her how to golf, because his only son was unable to.

Martha’s younger brother Charles was paralyzed from a polio infection in the mid-1950s.

I have read and accept the rules of the roleplay: Velahor

Do Not Remove: 84721

[Alozia]

NOTICE OF EJECTION

---

From Alozia,
Assistant Administrator,
Director of Community Outreach and Relations for America the Beautiful RP

---

Following a period of deliberation and a unanimous vote, the Administrative team has decided to eject Newne Carriebean7 from this role-play, effective immediately. This means that the aforementioned player is prohibited from posting in any of the threads relating to this RP (the OOC, IC and Congress) with no exceptions. In addition, the character of Maxine Durant has been officially taken over by the Administration and their fate will be decided in a separate decision.

This decision has been made based on the long-standing rules of the role-play, particularly considering the player's actions to be a gross violation of rule number 5 that prohibits unrealistic characters and characters bearing the signs of intention to sabotage people and entities they would typically seek to support. In addition, the character has made a number of comments that have put the existence of this role-play at risk, using language that is prohibited on this forum, even if under the guise of portraying a character holding certain views, that would have potentially caused the moderation team of the NationStates forum to lock the threads and prohibit us from continuing had it not been for a swift reaction from the Administration team of this role-play. All of this is in light of multiple attempts to peacefully address Newne Carriebean7's behavior, including in public. Despite assurances that changes to the player's behavior would be made, no action was taken to that extent and the contentious actions continued.

Failure to comply with this notice in form of posting in any of the threads relating to this RP shall result in an official complaint to the moderation team that may carry serious consequences.

The appeal for this decision, if one is to be made, will be considered by the Administration. If you wish to make one, please contact the Administration team directly, through a telegram, with the full text of your reasoning for the reversal or amendment of this decision.

On behalf of the Administrative team,
Alozia
Director of Community Outreach and Relations for America the Beautiful RP

[Cybernetic Socialist Republics]

with the senate alone? they just have a super majority in the senate, majority in the house. they can't override a veto. they can, however, impeach.

We are not doing that, the Wisconsin Republicans would actually do it

I doubt it, they'd have to impeach and convict the governor and then the lieutenant governor, then they'd only be left with the secretary of state. But the line of succession doesn't go beyond the secretary of state, so if they were impeached and convicted, the governorship would be vacant, a constitutional crisis. The amending process also requires the legislature to wait for the next legislature to confirm an amendment, and then have that confirmed by voters in another general election, so that can't be used to fix the governorship. The most straight forward legislative coup for a republican Wisconsin senate super majority would be to just impeach and convict state house democrats until they have a state house super majority, then use that super majority in both houses to override all vetoes.

I think that's probably too far for Wisconsin Republicans.

[Velahor]

Any interested co-sponsors for the LEAP Act? It's a bill to even the crack and raw cocaine sentencing guidelines. The sponsors of its IRL equivalent (the EQUAL Act) are Cory Booker, Dick Durbin, Thom Tillis, Patrick Leahy, Rob Portman, and Rand Paul.

The LEAP Act
A BILL
to eliminate the disparity between raw cocaine and cocaine base in drug offense sentencing.

Sponsor: Representative Diane Paulson (R-ME-2)
Senate Sponsors:
House Sponsors:
SECTION 1: SHORT TITLE
(A) This Act may be cited as the “Legislative Elimination of Assymetric Penalties Act” or the “LEAP Act”.

SECTION 2: ELIMINATION OF INCREASE PENALTIES FOR COCAINE OFFENSES WHERE THE COCAINE INVOLVED IS COCAINE BASE

(a) Controlled substances act-

The following provisions of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) are repealed:
(1) Clause (iii) of section 401(b)(1)(A) (21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(A)).
(2) Clause (iii) of section 401(b)(1)(B) (21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(B)).

(b) Controlled substances import and export act-

The following provisions of the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 951 et seq.) are repealed:
(1) Subparagraph (C) of section 1010(b)(1) (21 U.S.C. 960(b)(1)).
(2) Subparagraph (C) of section 1010(b)(2) (21 U.S.C. 960(b)(2)).

(c) Applicability to pending and past cases

(1) Pending cases
This section, and the amendments made by this section, shall apply to any sentence imposed after the date of enactment of this Act, regardless of when the offense was committed.

(2) Past cases
In the case of a defendant who, before the date of enactment of this Act, was convicted or sentenced for a Federal offense involving cocaine base, the sentencing court may, on motion of the defendant, the Bureau of Prisons, the attorney for the Government, or on its own motion, impose a reduced sentence after considering the factors set forth in section 3553(a) of title 18, United States Code.

[Deblar]

Any interested co-sponsors for the LEAP Act? It's a bill to even the crack and raw cocaine sentencing guidelines. The sponsors of its IRL equivalent (the EQUAL Act) are Cory Booker, Dick Durbin, Thom Tillis, Patrick Leahy, Rob Portman, and Rand Paul.

(Image)
The LEAP Act
A BILL
to eliminate the disparity between raw cocaine and cocaine base in drug offense sentencing.

Sponsor: Representative Diane Paulson (R-ME-2)
Senate Sponsors:
House Sponsors:
SECTION 1: SHORT TITLE
(A) This Act may be cited as the “Legislative Elimination of Assymetric Penalties Act” or the “LEAP Act”.

SECTION 2: ELIMINATION OF INCREASE PENALTIES FOR COCAINE OFFENSES WHERE THE COCAINE INVOLVED IS COCAINE BASE

(a) Controlled substances act-

The following provisions of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) are repealed:
(1) Clause (iii) of section 401(b)(1)(A) (21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(A)).
(2) Clause (iii) of section 401(b)(1)(B) (21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(B)).

(b) Controlled substances import and export act-

The following provisions of the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 951 et seq.) are repealed:
(1) Subparagraph (C) of section 1010(b)(1) (21 U.S.C. 960(b)(1)).
(2) Subparagraph (C) of section 1010(b)(2) (21 U.S.C. 960(b)(2)).

(c) Applicability to pending and past cases

(1) Pending cases
This section, and the amendments made by this section, shall apply to any sentence imposed after the date of enactment of this Act, regardless of when the offense was committed.

(2) Past cases
In the case of a defendant who, before the date of enactment of this Act, was convicted or sentenced for a Federal offense involving cocaine base, the sentencing court may, on motion of the defendant, the Bureau of Prisons, the attorney for the Government, or on its own motion, impose a reduced sentence after considering the factors set forth in section 3553(a) of title 18, United States Code.

Hugo would cosponsor

[Gordano and Lysandus]

Any interested co-sponsors for the LEAP Act? It's a bill to even the crack and raw cocaine sentencing guidelines. The sponsors of its IRL equivalent (the EQUAL Act) are Cory Booker, Dick Durbin, Thom Tillis, Patrick Leahy, Rob Portman, and Rand Paul.

(Image)
The LEAP Act
A BILL
to eliminate the disparity between raw cocaine and cocaine base in drug offense sentencing.

Sponsor: Representative Diane Paulson (R-ME-2)
Senate Sponsors:
House Sponsors:
SECTION 1: SHORT TITLE
(A) This Act may be cited as the “Legislative Elimination of Assymetric Penalties Act” or the “LEAP Act”.

SECTION 2: ELIMINATION OF INCREASE PENALTIES FOR COCAINE OFFENSES WHERE THE COCAINE INVOLVED IS COCAINE BASE

(a) Controlled substances act-

The following provisions of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) are repealed:
(1) Clause (iii) of section 401(b)(1)(A) (21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(A)).
(2) Clause (iii) of section 401(b)(1)(B) (21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(B)).

(b) Controlled substances import and export act-

The following provisions of the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 951 et seq.) are repealed:
(1) Subparagraph (C) of section 1010(b)(1) (21 U.S.C. 960(b)(1)).
(2) Subparagraph (C) of section 1010(b)(2) (21 U.S.C. 960(b)(2)).

(c) Applicability to pending and past cases

(1) Pending cases
This section, and the amendments made by this section, shall apply to any sentence imposed after the date of enactment of this Act, regardless of when the offense was committed.

(2) Past cases
In the case of a defendant who, before the date of enactment of this Act, was convicted or sentenced for a Federal offense involving cocaine base, the sentencing court may, on motion of the defendant, the Bureau of Prisons, the attorney for the Government, or on its own motion, impose a reduced sentence after considering the factors set forth in section 3553(a) of title 18, United States Code.

My Democrats you'll have, I think Abigail'll sit this one out.

[New Cobastheia]

Any interested co-sponsors for the LEAP Act? It's a bill to even the crack and raw cocaine sentencing guidelines. The sponsors of its IRL equivalent (the EQUAL Act) are Cory Booker, Dick Durbin, Thom Tillis, Patrick Leahy, Rob Portman, and Rand Paul.

(Image)
The LEAP Act
A BILL
to eliminate the disparity between raw cocaine and cocaine base in drug offense sentencing.

Sponsor: Representative Diane Paulson (R-ME-2)
Senate Sponsors:
House Sponsors:
SECTION 1: SHORT TITLE
(A) This Act may be cited as the “Legislative Elimination of Assymetric Penalties Act” or the “LEAP Act”.

SECTION 2: ELIMINATION OF INCREASE PENALTIES FOR COCAINE OFFENSES WHERE THE COCAINE INVOLVED IS COCAINE BASE

(a) Controlled substances act-

The following provisions of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) are repealed:
(1) Clause (iii) of section 401(b)(1)(A) (21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(A)).
(2) Clause (iii) of section 401(b)(1)(B) (21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(B)).

(b) Controlled substances import and export act-

The following provisions of the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 951 et seq.) are repealed:
(1) Subparagraph (C) of section 1010(b)(1) (21 U.S.C. 960(b)(1)).
(2) Subparagraph (C) of section 1010(b)(2) (21 U.S.C. 960(b)(2)).

(c) Applicability to pending and past cases

(1) Pending cases
This section, and the amendments made by this section, shall apply to any sentence imposed after the date of enactment of this Act, regardless of when the offense was committed.

(2) Past cases
In the case of a defendant who, before the date of enactment of this Act, was convicted or sentenced for a Federal offense involving cocaine base, the sentencing court may, on motion of the defendant, the Bureau of Prisons, the attorney for the Government, or on its own motion, impose a reduced sentence after considering the factors set forth in section 3553(a) of title 18, United States Code.

Hertzog would sign on