Dresden Federal Election, 2052

Overview
The 2052 Dresden Federal Election was the fourth federal general election conducted after the Second Constitution was adopted.

The election saw the incumbent Culik government led by Prime Minister Evan Gracie re-elected with an even larger majority. The party took in 54% of the vote and 108 seats, a gain of 5 from the last election.

Former Democratic Party leader Larry Hartkeel continued to orchestrate a floor crossing with many Culik MPs and personally brought up four confidence votes, all of which failed. On January 15, 2052, the Democratic Party suspended Hartkeel, and stripped him of his leadership. Sylvia Niall of Atlanta who was previously the Children's Minister was selected as interim leader. She halted all attempts to sabotage Gracie's government.

Leader of the Opposition, Jim Perkins, died on February 4, 2052, and Sue Teller of Emperia, the deputy party leader, was selected as interim leader.

Prime Minister Evan Gracie announced a controversial budget proposal to dramatically cut taxes and effectively end any form of a federal welfare state, leaving the option to individual states. In order to push for such a proposal, he wanted a clear mandate from the voters. Both Tiller and Nihal called for the Prime Minister to call an election before putting forth such a radical proposal. With an approval rating of 71%, Prime Minister Gracie dropped the writ on October 31, 2052, and scheduled the election for December 18th.

Rules and Parties
The Federal Election Governing Body (FEGB) had been reformed to allow each party competing to have equal airtime for one day of their convention. Polling and debates were also less regulated, but campaign spending scrutiny was heightened. There were to be three debates: two between all party leaders and on final debate between the top three party leaders.

The campaign officially began on November 9, 2052. Each campaign promised to end active campaigning during the week of Thanksgiving and not resume until the following Monday. With the campaign coinciding with the holiday season, many were unhappy that politics were being infused with the season. Each party leader claimed that the date of the election, a key Christmas shopping day, was prime to optimize voter turnout.

The parties that competed in the election were:
 * Culik (center-right)
 * Leftist Union (center-left)
 * Democratic Party (center)
 * States' Independence Party (right-wing regional soverigntists) NEW
 * Dominonist Party (far-right Christian theocrats) NEW

Culik
At the Culik Party Convention, Prime Minister Evan Gracie was unanimously re-elected party leader. He laid out his new budge on which he promised to pass if given another majority government. Gracie's speech on the televised night of the convention was highly praised and it settled Culik comfortably above 50% in the polls.

Leftist Union
The Progressive-Liberal Party joined forces with the Greens and UFS to form the Leftist Union, a center-left catch-all progressive party. Interim leader, Leader of the Opposition, Sue Teller, was re-elected with 55% of the vote in the first round. She laid out a platform against austerity and an increased role of the federal government. She was viewed as being articulate, but her ideas were fairly unpopular.

Democratic Party
The Democratic Party decided to retain Sylvia Nihal as leader at their convention as no one decided to run against her. The party tried to shed its troublemaker reputation after Larry Hartkeel's faulty attempts to bring down the government. She was criticized for not having a coherent platform and the party was expected to lose vote share and seats in the next parliament.

The Debates
Two debates were held that included all party leaders. The debate on November 15th was viewed to have been a draw between Evan Gracie and the leader of a new party, the SIP, Teddy Rossby. The debate on December 3rd was clearly won by Evan Gracie. The top 3 parties to have their leaders compete in the third debate were Culik, Leftist Union, and the Democrats. Evan Gracie was viewed to have clearly won that debate.

Aftermath
Culik and Evan Gracie claimed a second term with an increased majority. With a much increased turnout, Culik was able to claim 54% of the vote share and 108 seats in parliament. The Leftist Union was destroyed at the polls, only achieving an 18% vote share despite having the entire left wing consolidated in one party and having a decently capable leader. The Democrats only lost a marginal share of the vote despite some of the pre-election polls showing them slipping into the single digits.

The votes gave Prime Minister Evan Gracie the go ahead on his controversial budget package, and no one of any party had the ability to argue with that.