Cain Blackwater
Cain Blackwater | |
---|---|
Leader of the Green Liberal Party | |
In office September 22nd, 1998 – September 22nd, 2020 | |
Speaker of the Chamber | |
In office September 22nd, 1988 – September 22nd, 1994 | |
Preceded by | Henry Killington |
Succeeded by | Shauna Lultquist |
Senator, Zian 4th District | |
In office September 22nd, 2006 – September 22nd, 2022 | |
Succeeded by | Eustace Casey |
Congressman, Zian 51st District | |
In office September 22nd, 1984 – September 22nd, 2006 | |
Personal details | |
Born | August 24th, 1951 (Age:69) Tofino, Zian, Zamastan |
Citizenship | Zamastanian |
Nationality | Zamastanian |
Political party | Green Liberal Party |
Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) |
Spouses |
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Parent(s) | Jared Blackwater, Marriam Hellien |
Cain Blackwater is a Zamastanian energy tycoon, politician, and billionaire who served as the leader of the Green Liberal Party from 1998 until 2020, when he was replaced by Alian Matten. He served for six years as the Speaker of the Chamber before being voted out in the 1994 election and being replaced by Shauna Lultquist when the Libertarian Party took the majority in Congressional Hall. During his time as speaker, he was a representative from Zian's 51st and later served as the Senator of Zian's 4th from 2006-2022. He uses his influence as a major politician and billionaire to his party's advantage, funding many events and campaigns. He made his fortune from his acquired energy company, the Blackwater Energy Industries, which applies green, clean energy such as windmills, solar, and hydro electric sources. He has been a candidate for President multiple times over his career, running in 1992, 1998, and 2014 against Cassious Castovia, 2016 against Zacharias Castovia, and the January and November 2019 emergency elections against Anya Bishop and Foley Sakzi.
An advocate of social democratic and progressive policies, Blackwater is known for his opposition to economic inequality and neoliberalism, though he has recieved plenty of criticism for his wealth. On domestic policy, he supports labor rights, universal and single-payer healthcare, paid parental leave, tuition-free tertiary education, and an ambitious plan to create jobs addressing climate change and create a emission-free Zamastan by 2026. On foreign policy, he supports reducing military spending, pursuing more diplomacy and international cooperation, and putting greater emphasis on labor rights and environmental concerns when negotiating international trade agreements.
On April 25th, 2019, he announced his candidacy for President in the 2020 Zamastan presidential election, being the first candidate to announce his campaign. His original first place showings in the GLP polling was stunted upon the candidacy of Senator Adam Wolffe, but he quickly rose back to the top of Liberal polling to be widely considered as the party's nominee. He faced Sabine Armitage of the Conservative Party and Atticus Moreau of the Bloc Mayotte/Separatist faction, ultimately losing to Moreau. His senate tenure ended in 2022 as he declined to run for reelection and was succeeded by Eustace Casey.
Early life
Cain Blackwater was born on August 24th, 1951, in Tofino, Zian, Zamastan, to Jared and Marriam Blackwater. He has two younger siblings, Eric and Myra. As a boy, Blackwater found a role model in his maternal grandfather, Constantio businessman Kiloš Jelníček, who had a home near Apelnisse (Constantinopolis), where he spent summers camping, fishing, hunting and learning the Chezian language.
Blackwater's parents divorced when he was 13 years old. His mother told him his father was having an extramarital affair. Blackwater was estranged from his father for years after the divorce, furious at his actions which broke up the family. Cain was educated at the Cillandeo College, a university in Little Tribe River, Pahl, where he graduated in 1968 with a B.S. in Economics. He married his first wife, Demalia Fresnia, in 1970.
Business Career
Blackwater joined Piston Sun Company in 1975 as a production engineer. In 1980, Blackwater became President and CEO of the company after a merger, relabling the company as Blackwater Energy Industries and transforming it into a energy giant. By 2000, B.E.I. had 80,000 employees, did business in nearly 50 countries, and had an annual revenue of nearly Z$400 billion, making it one of the largest Zamastanian-owned companies.
Political Career
Congressmen terms
Blackwater ran for the Congress Chamber as a Green Liberal in 1984, winning the seat for Zian's 51st district. After winning a third term in 1988, he was named Speaker of the Chamber by the Liberal majority in Congressional Hall, succeeding Henry Killington and propelling him to the top of the legislative power structure. He remained in the Speaker position for three terms until the liberals lost the majority in Congress to the Libertarian Party in 1994, and Blackwater was succeeded by Shauna Lultquist.
Concerned by high breast cancer rates in Zamastan, on February 7, 1992, Blackwater sponsored the Cancer Registries Amendment Act to establish cancer registries to collect data on cancer. Senator Mark Leahy introduced a companion bill in the Senate on October 2, 1992. The Senate bill was passed by the House on October 6 and signed into law by President Cassious Castovia on October 24, 1992.
In 1994, Blackwater voted for the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act "because it included the Violence Against Women Act and the ban on certain assault weapons." He was nevertheless critical of the other parts of the bill. Although he acknowledged that "clearly, there are some people in our society who are horribly violent, who are deeply sick and sociopathic, and clearly these people must be put behind bars in order to protect society from them," he maintained that governmental policies played a large part in "dooming tens of millions of young people to a future of bitterness, misery, hopelessness, drugs, crime, and violence" and argued that the repressive policies introduced by the bill were not addressing the causes of violence, saying, "we can create meaningful jobs, rebuilding our society, or we can build more jails."
Senator terms
Blackwater continued to win terms in the Congress Chamber until 2006, when he decided to run for Senate in Zian's 4th Senatorial District. He beat Conservative incumbant Urko Mannis in a sweeping victory, and has served as the Senator since then. In mid-December 2009, Blackwater successfully added a provision to the Castovia-Administration Health Act to fund Z$11 billion to community health centers, especially those in rural areas. The provision brought together liberals on the left with liberals from conservative, rural areas, helping to secure the majority of votes needed for passage.
In November 2009, Blackwater co-sponsored and voted for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. In December 2010, he was one of the original cosponsors of the Nuclear Weapon Free Ossinia Act of 2013, which would toughen sanctions against Ossinia. He also voted for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. In January 2014, he cosponsored the Respect for Marriage Act. In February 2014, Blackwater voted against the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013. In March 2014, Blackwater pledged to meet with each of his Conservative party colleagues in the Senate in order to find common ground, and was spotted having dinner with Senator Zackery Kavanagh in Tofino.
After the 2018 election, in which Zacharias Castovia defeated Blackwater, he testified against Secretary of the Treasury nominee Samuel Discher, the first instance of a sitting senator testifying against another during a cabinet position confirmation hearing.
Presidential bids
Blackwater became a candidate for President 6 times over his career, running unsuccesfully in 1992, 1998, and 2014 against Cassious Castovia, 2018 against Zacharias Castovia, and the January and November 2019 emergency elections against Anya Bishop and Foley Sakzi.
On April 25th, 2019, he announced his candidacy for President in the 2020 Zamastan presidential election, being the first candidate to announce his campaign in tha cycle, and making it his 7th bid for the Presidency. His original first place showings in the GLP polling was stunted upon the candidacy of Senator Adam Wolffe, but he quickly rose back to the top of Liberal polling to be widely considered as the party's nominee. He faced Sabine Armitage of the Conservative Party and Atticus Moreau of the Bloc Mayotte/Separatist faction.