Darkslayer Upsets GraVandius in Senate By-Election
By Deepest House
(Europeia - May 28, 2020) - Senate dark horse candidate Darkslayer pulled off a stunning upset over veteran legislator and pre-election favorite GraVandius in the Senate by-election held May 27. Ervald also emerged victorious in the by-election to fill the second of two seats vacated when Olde Delaware and Rotasu resigned from the Senate. Ervald led the pack with 22 votes, while Darkslayer edged out GraVandius 19 votes to 18.
“I don’t think I can describe how I feel,” the freshly-minted senator said in an exclusive interview with the Europeian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC). “I am completely overtaken by shock. I am just so happy that so many people put their faith in me, to vote for me. It means so much to me.”
Given that Darkslayer is a newcomer to the region and the broad field, he was unsure of chances in the election.
“I have to admit, since the start I thought GraV and Ervald would win the two seats,” he said. “I thought it would be nice to potentially have a chance … but I did not expect to receive this amount of support.”
That critical support was no doubt assisted by several key endorsements that Darkslayer received in the leadup to the polls opening. Former senator Sopo, founder HEM, and Senator McEntire each expressed their support for the candidate and offered endorsements of his campaign.
“I am a firm believer in empowering the next generation of players, and I think it would be a shame if we came out of this by-election without doing that,” Sopo said while stopping in at Darkslayer’s campaign headquarters. “Having gotten to know Dark and read his platform, I am incredibly confident that he will be an excellent senator as we move forward with the reform. I know it’s a crowded field, but I hope the voters seriously consider his candidacy.”
In speaking with the EBC, the freshman senator recognized the importance of those endorsements and their role in his election.
“I believe the endorsement from Sopo and from McEntire and HEM was critical to my campaign,” he stated. “Their public support, I feel, contributed significantly to those who voted for me. … So I am thankful for their endorsements, as I believe that was what caused me to take the lead.”
Darkslayer’s victory was unforeseen by private media outlets prior to the election. On May 24, Monkey’s Musings named GraVandius the only frontrunner, writing that “a seat at this point in time is almost guaranteed to him.”
GraVandius, for his part, remained confident heading into the election, but was not quite as certain as Monkey’s Musings.
“I was optimistically confident,” he said in a post-election interview. “It definitely shaped up to be a lot closer than I thought it would be and by the time I went to bed at midnight Ervald had a significant lead and Dark was only like a vote behind.”
By the morning of May 28, GraVandius’ lead had evaporated, with Darkslayer surging ahead. When polls closed later that morning, Darkslayer’s one-vote lead held and he was elected to the Senate.
“It’s very hard to summarize how I feel,” he said. “But I am happy and very pleased with how the campaign turned out.”
This was Darkslayer’s second attempt at a Senate run. He previously campaigned in the April 30 by-election, which was won by McEntire.
