Gylian presidential election, 2023
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| Turnout | 96,5% | ||||||||||||||||
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A presidential election was held in Gylias on 22 January 2023.
Incumbent president Ravy Egiði lost re-election, failing to advance to the final count, where Love, Nature, Democracy candidate Frauke Stark defeated independent candidate Mai Thị Lan with the largest margin since 1975.
The election was nicknamed the "election of wealth", as Frauke was the richest Gylian to win a presidential election, while Lan had built her acting career on portraying graceful and good-natured "beautiful elite" characters.
Procedure
The election was held through instant-runoff voting.
Candidates were registered with Elections Gylias in accordance with normal procedures. They could either be nominated by a political party or electoral bloc, civic organisations, or self-nomination as independents.
Candidates
| Candidate | Nominator | Office(s) held | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frauke Stark | 
|
Love, Nature, Democracy | None | Campaigned on promotion of free love and sexarchism. | |
| Mai Thị Lan | 
|
Independent | None | Campaigned on promotion of socialised luxury. | |
| Ravy Egiði | 
|
National Bloc | President of Gylias (since 2019) |
Campaigned on promotion of science. | |
| Vũ Tùng Quân | 
|
Liberal Union | Governor of Nauras (2010–2022) |
Campaigned on promotion of liberalism. | |
| Amanda Leloup | 
|
OMFLG–ACFEN | Governor of Nezyál (1970–1978) |
Campaigned on promotion of francité. | |
Results
| Candidate | Nominator | First count | % | Final count | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frauke Stark | LND | 5.687.488 | 30,0% | 10.351.228 | 60,0% | |
| Mai Thị Lan | Independent | 3.602.076 | 19,0% | 6.900.818 | 40,0% | |
| Ravy Egiði | NB | 3.412.493 | 18,0% | |||
| Vũ Tùng Quân | LU | 3.052.285 | 16,1% | |||
| Amanda Leloup | OMFLG–ACFEN | 3.014.369 | 15,9% | |||
| Others/write-ins | 189.583 | 1,0% | ||||
| Total | 18.958.292 | 100% | 17.252.046 | 100% | ||
| Registered voters and turnout | 21.470.928 | 96,5% | ||||
Maps
Analysis
Incumbent Ravy Egiði entered the campaign in a reasonable position, having maintained a good popularity throughout his term. However, when the nominations were closed, opinion polls showed he would have a tough fight for re-election.
Frauke Stark was the first to announce her run, nominated by Love, Nature, Democracy. She also secured the endorsement of the Progressive Alliance, which unified the left behind her. She was the richest Gylian to run for the presidency, and her existing fame as a pornographic household name proved a formidable obstacle. Notably, she ran for the presidency as Frauke Stark, whereas her previous political and academic involvement was done under her real name, Julia Brückner.
Model and actress Mai Thị Lan ran as an independent with a campaign focused on promotion of socialised luxury. She had built her career on portraying graceful and good-natured "beautiful elite" characters, and thus her and Frauke's presence on the ballot gave rise to the nickname "the election of wealth". Rounding out the field were recent Governor of Nauras Vũ Tùng Quân, nominated by the Liberal Union, and francité stalwart Amanda Leloup, contesting her 7th presidential election in a row.
Frauke and Lan monopolised much of the attention during the campaign, causing Ravy's campaign to struggle. Frauke financed her campaign personally, refusing donations, and launched a successful advertising blitz that capitalised on her fame. Her PPBs were polished and featured the high production values and cheeky humour that had characterised her Shopping series, leading to a popular joke that her campaign was another Shopping film in disguise. The Republic wrote that Frauke's campaign tacitly impressed on voters her strongest qualities: "sexy, aging gracefully, trans, rich, and a doctor in psychology — not necessarily in that order". Lan's campaign similarly built on her established public persona, concentrating on promotion of socialised luxury.
At public meetings, Frauke and Lan maintained an unofficial "non-aggression pact", teaming up against their opponents. Quân tried to focus on ideology during her campaign, but realised early on she was outmatched by Frauke and Lan's glamour and celebrity.
In the first round, Frauke won a plurality, establishing a commanding lead over the other candidates. The great surprise was Lan overtaking Ravy by 175.000 first preference votes, eliminating him before the final round. It was the first time an incumbent President had failed to advance to the final round. Quân finished fourth, only 0,1% ahead of Amanda.
Frauke's dominance was belied by the first round map, where she won pluralities in Mişeyáke and the northern regions, but finished a close second in most other regions. Quân won the traditional liberal strongholds, but was overtaken in Nauras by Ravy. Lan won pluralities in the non-inscrit friendly Tomes and Sváen, and several central regions.
In the final round, Frauke largely gained transfers from Quân and Amanda's voters, while Lan largely gained transfers from Ravy's voters after his unexpected elimination. Frauke defeated Lan by 60% to 40%, a margin not seen since 1975.
On the final map, Frauke gained majorities in 14 out of 20 regions. Lan's regions — Tandar, Kausania, Arsad, Ḑarna, Aðuna, and Nerveiík-Iárus-Daláyk — formed a diagonal line running from north-west to south-east across the map, which inspired humorous nicknames.
