Life in Gotham: A Gotham City Municipal Election Series (1994 Runoff).

[Bigby]

1994 Gotham City Mayoral Runoff:

It surprises few that the first non-overtly policy-oriented mayoral race in decades would be rendered so inconclusive. The informal alliance between Sionis and Hill led to a steady voter base for both candidates, but angry voters in the middle flooded to Arkham in response. These voters believed that the Gotham establishment was indeed out to get citizens such as Jeremiah Arkham, and thus Sionis and Hill fueled the rise of Arkham to a certain degree. However, Arkham's third place standing prohibited from advancement. Considering the Arkhams are under investigation for numerous murders thanks to all the evidence found in their basement, Director Arkham is now a nonfactor regardless. A September bill passed into law by Sionis required that a mayoral race where no candidate received 50%+1 in the vote go to a December runoff, so Gothamites will return to the polls on the first Tuesday of December to decide between Sionis and Hill.

Mayor Richard Sionis - "Let's Keep Gotham Civil."

Sionis and Hill overlapped on several issues, with Sionis leaning more libertarian on average. While the Court of Owls warmed up to Hill without antagonizing or abandoning Sionis, Sionis technically enjoys his status as their de facto nominee. Sionis continues to focus his campaign on past successes, such as scaling back Falcone's unpopular regulations, restrictions, and taxes, convicting Truman Dent for his crimes against Gotham City PD and his son Harvey Dent, and his wiping out of disorganized crime. GCPD has explicitly endorsed Mayor Sidonis for taking the hardline against the Maroni crime family. Deputy Mayor Sarah Gordon has summoned her husband James Gordon as a campaigning agent for Sionis to cement this notable endorsement. Gordon and the GCPD were rather supportive in the general election, but the focus on Arkham and the Gotham Gazette's allegations flooded attention towards these figures out of the public eye. Sionis's continued law and order campaign is largely considered to be what a Sionis reelection campaign would have looked like had the Arkham scandal never occurred. What may hurt Sionis is that Arkham's supporters remember well how Sionis campaigned against Arkham, and also the fact that Sionis's administration is in charge, so the arrests, as valid as they are, could be construed as a personal indictment against Arkham personified.

Former Deputy Mayor Hamilton Hill - "No Need To Rock The Boat."

The 1994 runoff shows Gotham how influential the Court of Owls has become, as the leftist candidate in the race, Hamilton Hill, has also cozeyed up to the political group. Hill was outwardly grateful to his new supporters that not only voted for him in droves compared to 1986, but actually helped garner him a place in the runoff election. Like Sionis, Hill likewise left the Arkham discussion behind in the past. Since Sionis secured the police force, Hill pursued the intelligentsia of Gotham to form his base for the runoff. This has led him to sound less like Falcone-lite like in the general and more like his 1986 self, so this may pose problems for him. However, this has burdened Hill with a similar albatross in his attempt to woo over Arkham voters. Regina Zellerbach, a minor member of the Court of Owls who broke rank to support and finance Hill, was a vocal critic of Arkham's administration of Arkham Asylum who eagerly jumped ship on the witch hunt started by the Gazette. Zellerbach refuses to bury the hatchet as Sionis and Hill have, and so by extension, Hill continues to metaphorically carry a phantom axe to grind against Arkham.

This election will be decided by Arkham's supporters. As such, no one expresses absolute confidence in a prediction between Sionis and Hill. As much as both candidates want to move on, their actions and their supporters refuse to leave Arkham's occult activities and controversial take on the mental health of Truman Dent and Sal Maroni off the discussion table. Arkham's former voters also uniformly express disdain for their choices, and they claim that no real choice exists. Many have noticed that Hill's positions are barely more liberal than Sionis's; the differences between the two seem to be largely rhetorical outside of certain economic issues. That both Sionis and Hill both consider each other such worthy opponents and promise to aid the eventual victor no matter who it is also complicates matters. Sionis and Hill bear no ill will against each other, but the Arkham scandal casts a sour mood over the entire city that neither Falcone nor Maroni could ever pull off with their respective antics.

(You have 48 hours to vote despite this being a runoff. I can feel the discomforting ooze from this runoff, and that is very much intentional on my part. Gotham ain't easy.)

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I'm gonna be serious/Let's all vote for Sionis

[Antonio the Sixth]

Hill this time.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

My first name is Hamilton/my first name is Hamilton...and there's a million things I haven't done...as Gotham mayor...

[White Trash]

God I miss Falcone. A real shame that both of these candidates are puppets of the Court of Owls- Whoops! Am I allowed to say that aloud? Better lock my door tonight.

[Antonio the Sixth]

God I miss Falcone. A real shame that both of these candidates are puppets of the Court of Owls- Whoops! Am I allowed to say that aloud? Better lock my door tonight.

True. We'll definitely need another rowdy Italian-American candidate next time around!

[Maxwell]

Switching from Sionis to Hill.

[Bigby]

God I miss Falcone. A real shame that both of these candidates are puppets of the Court of Owls- Whoops! Am I allowed to say that aloud? Better lock my door tonight.

True. We'll definitely need another rowdy Italian-American candidate next time around!

Welcome to Gotham. Locking your doors may be a good idea, but not because of the Court of Owls. You'll find out soon enough.

[Bigby]

By the way guys, remember that Gotham politics will become more localized. I won't reveal anything, but the lines will become less liberal and conservative while a different, specific-to-Gotham binary will form. 1998 may indeed be the last "normal" election. Vote to find out what I mean!

Also, I edited the epilogue to the 1994 general election to reflect the midterm elections nationwide well after I wrote this new thread. Posting it here in case y'all missed it (It includes a special DC Comics reference that will become a vital plot point.): https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=256862.msg5484131#msg5484131

Feel free to ask me who represents Gotham and even New Jersey specifically in the House and Senate. Gotham currently has three congressional districts, but that will likely decrease if Gotham continues its decline in population. It is far less likely to gain congressional districts.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Who represents Gotham in Congress?

[Bigby]

Who represents Gotham in Congress?

Gotham - 01 (NJ-14th) - Bob Zellerbach (D) (Serving since 1987.)
Gotham - 02 (NJ-15th) - Peter Grogan (R) (Serving since 1985.)
Gotham - 03 (NJ-16th) - Renee Montoya I (R) (Serving since 1991.)

Gotham 01 and 02 have traditionally been divided halves of the city itself while Gotham 03 is largely the Gotham metro and suburbs/exburbs. NJ-17th will likely be the first to go when the population drops and is not thanks to Gotham but because of the rise in total NJ population thanks to Gotham and partially thanks to Metropolis. All four new CDs are in southern NJ.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Who represents Gotham in Congress?

Gotham - 01 (NJ-14th) - Bob Zellerbach (D) (Serving since 1987.)
Gotham - 02 (NJ-15th) - Peter Grogan (R) (Serving since 1985.)
Gotham - 03 (NJ-16th) - Renee Montoya I (R) (Serving since 1991.)

Gotham 01 and 02 have traditionally been divided halves of the city itself while Gotham 03 is largely the Gotham metro and suburbs/exburbs. NJ-17th will likely be the first to go when the population drops and is not thanks to Gotham but because of the rise in total NJ population thanks to Gotham and partially thanks to Metropolis. All four new CDs are in southern NJ.

Is one half of the city more liberal than the other?

[Bigby]

Who represents Gotham in Congress?

Gotham - 01 (NJ-14th) - Bob Zellerbach (D) (Serving since 1987.)
Gotham - 02 (NJ-15th) - Peter Grogan (R) (Serving since 1985.)
Gotham - 03 (NJ-16th) - Renee Montoya I (R) (Serving since 1991.)

Gotham 01 and 02 have traditionally been divided halves of the city itself while Gotham 03 is largely the Gotham metro and suburbs/exburbs. NJ-17th will likely be the first to go when the population drops and is not thanks to Gotham but because of the rise in total NJ population thanks to Gotham and partially thanks to Metropolis. All four new CDs are in southern NJ.

Is one half of the city more liberal than the other?

Generally, yes. Zellerbach is a hybrid of Hill and Falcone leftism while Grogan is a law and order conservative. Montoya is not a cop like her daughter, but she was elected in a perfect combination of law and order Gotham fury and the 1990 Republican midterm revolution. Montoya's district was held by a Democrat from 1987 to 1991 before she assumed office.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Who represents Gotham in Congress?

Gotham - 01 (NJ-14th) - Bob Zellerbach (D) (Serving since 1987.)
Gotham - 02 (NJ-15th) - Peter Grogan (R) (Serving since 1985.)
Gotham - 03 (NJ-16th) - Renee Montoya I (R) (Serving since 1991.)

Gotham 01 and 02 have traditionally been divided halves of the city itself while Gotham 03 is largely the Gotham metro and suburbs/exburbs. NJ-17th will likely be the first to go when the population drops and is not thanks to Gotham but because of the rise in total NJ population thanks to Gotham and partially thanks to Metropolis. All four new CDs are in southern NJ.

Is one half of the city more liberal than the other?

Generally, yes. Zellerbach is a hybrid of Hill and Falcone leftism while Grogan is a law and order conservative. Montoya is not a cop like her daughter, but she was elected in a perfect combination of law and order Gotham fury and the 1990 Republican midterm revolution. Montoya's district was held by a Democrat from 1987 to 1991 before she assumed office.

Do you think it might be possible supplying maps?

[Antonio the Sixth]

I always thought Gotham was a stand-in for Chicago. Wouldn't have placed it on the East Coast.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

I always thought Gotham was a stand-in for Chicago. Wouldn't have placed it on the East Coast.

I thought it was a stand-in for New York City.

[Bigby]

I always thought Gotham was a stand-in for Chicago. Wouldn't have placed it on the East Coast.

I thought it was a stand-in for New York City.

It's been made a stand-in for New York City often. However, I posted a DC Comics map that places Gotham in New Jersey and Metropolis in Delaware, with the two being divided by ocean (and united by a bridge.) I went with that map for both locations.

[Bigby]

Who represents Gotham in Congress?

Gotham - 01 (NJ-14th) - Bob Zellerbach (D) (Serving since 1987.)
Gotham - 02 (NJ-15th) - Peter Grogan (R) (Serving since 1985.)
Gotham - 03 (NJ-16th) - Renee Montoya I (R) (Serving since 1991.)

Gotham 01 and 02 have traditionally been divided halves of the city itself while Gotham 03 is largely the Gotham metro and suburbs/exburbs. NJ-17th will likely be the first to go when the population drops and is not thanks to Gotham but because of the rise in total NJ population thanks to Gotham and partially thanks to Metropolis. All four new CDs are in southern NJ.

Is one half of the city more liberal than the other?

Generally, yes. Zellerbach is a hybrid of Hill and Falcone leftism while Grogan is a law and order conservative. Montoya is not a cop like her daughter, but she was elected in a perfect combination of law and order Gotham fury and the 1990 Republican midterm revolution. Montoya's district was held by a Democrat from 1987 to 1991 before she assumed office.

Do you think it might be possible supplying maps?

If someone is willing to draw them, sure. I wouldn't mind some help making infoboxes either.

[Bigby]

Sionis seems to be crashing hard. You have another day to vote.

[Bigby]

Polling closes at 5:30 EST today. I'll do my best to write the epilogue to this election tonight, but the 1998 election will open depending on my schedule. I also have a Client Advice letter to work on for Legal Writing.

[Bigby]

(Sorry for the delay. Welcome to law school life.)

Resounding Defeat For Mayor Sionis.

While Sionis himself did nothing wrong, and his image slowly but surely recovered after the election in 1995, what ousted Sionis was traditional politics. Rumors that Deputy Mayor Sarah Gordon would be replaced by a wealthy donor were circulated by the Gotham Gazette. Sionis never showed any interest in doing so, but the Gordons withdrew their support angrily and announced that they would write in Sarah's name. Even worse, these same rumors postulated that Sionis would run against Grogan for Congress in 1996 to earn that seat for the Court of Owls. Sionis's approval ratings only fell to the mid-40's, but disgust against the Court of Owls outside and even inside the organization festered. The Waynes and the Cobblepots withdrew from the organization swiftly, though they did later admit to voting for Sionis. Grogan himself withdrew support for Sionis. The Court of Owls may have stayed away during Sionis's term as he wanted, but their association with him destroyed his mayoral career regardless.

Many conservatives and libertarians simply refused to vote, which depressed turnout in the eastern and Republican half of the city. Hill seemingly had the Gazette on his side entirely, as the media hammered the rumors into the skulls of the voters. All of these claims were revealed as false by February, but it was a small comfort for Sionis. Hill won 70% of the vote thanks to an energized liberal base. Hill just sat back and allowed the Gazette and Regina Zellerbach to play dirty for him and earn him the title of Mayor that he has coveted for eight years. Sionis's respect for Hill crumbled at the last moment, which was reflected in his angry, infuriated concession speech. However, that failed to help Sionis as all it did was play into the hands of the Gazette's manipulation. Hill won the runoff convincingly, and the Zellerbachs were left as the controllers of a newly liberal Court of Owls. Power shifted to the left once again in Gotham, though it was an affluent culturally high-class left rather than the pro-labor, socially conservative left under Falcone. Sionis angrily faded into political obscurity, but at least he landed his old professorial job back at Gotham University.

Non-Gotham News Snippet:

Many military experts believed that Hussein's war against the combined efforts of Syria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia would fail quickly. Rather than a quick defeat for Iraq as many expected, the Iranians and Saudis are barely holding the defensive line while Saddam has quickly rolled into eastern Syria! The Iraqi military never demilitarized after the peace of American President Cuomo's Gulf Accord, but neither did its neighbor's militaries do the same. However, numerous accounts of the frontlines report that some Iraqi soldiers and equipment almost seems superpowered. Troopers survive against otherwise lethal injuries, guns, tanks, and planes are twice as durable and functional as the enemies', and the Iraqi military even enjoys a substantial rise in financing and budget room. Intelligence gathered by Western agencies links this godlike gift to Saddam Hussein's regime to Ra's al-Ghul and the League of Assassins. In return for compliance with al-Ghul's infiltration of the Iraqi government, Hussein receives a blank check on the League's seemingly endless monetary and physical aide.

Ra's al-Ghul has made himself public during this Christmas season via video messages to the Western world. In them, he has went through his usual spiel that the League of Assassins is destined to regain the influence it had on world events that it once enjoyed. (On a special note, he has specifically demonized Saudi Arabia and their Wahhabi branch of Islam for destroying his ancient society in the 7th and early 8th centuries.) However, his Christmas Day announcement caught special attention from the world public. Ra's al-Ghul coined the term "metahuman" during his address. He considers himself one thanks to acquiring permanent effects from his League's most valuable resource of the "Lazarus Pits," which heal otherwise permanent and often lethal injuries, halt and sometimes reverse aging, and can even raise the dead back to life. Many in the media and world governments consider this gloating, but these supersoldiers in the Iraqi military give credence to al-Ghul's claims. Though many are fearful of this potential truth, demand for action against the Iraqi regime grows every day in the United States. When the next, strongly Republican Congress is sworn in on January 3rd, 1995, President Cuomo may have no option but to invade.

(Unless I decide to do some work due Sunday tonight, or if I fall asleep early, 1998 is on its way.)