Luke of Secundomia
Luke of Secundomia | |
|---|---|
| Governor of Merenneitoja | |
| In office 2010–2012 | |
| President | Parker I |
| Preceded by | None - Merenneitoja founded |
| Succeeded by | None - Merenneitoja disestablished |
| Co-President of Secundomia | |
| In office January 2010 | |
| President | Parker I (co-president) |
| Preceded by | Parker I and Spencer I as co-consuls |
| Succeeded by | Parker I and Spencer I |
| President of Secundomia | |
| In office July 2010-October 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Parker I |
| Succeeded by | Parker I |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Secundomian Conservative Party |
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Luke is a Secundomian former micronationalist. One of the most influential members of the Republic of Secundomia in 2009 and 2010, he was elected president twice and often held other high political offices. He was relatively inactive on in the intermicronational sphere, spending most of his time advocating domestic political goals. A friend, ally and sometimes adversary of the Parker I, central leader of Secundomia, Luke was extremely influential in Secundomian politics.
Personal Life
During his time in Secundomia, Luke was a high school student and friend of Parker I. He was introduced to Parker through a fantasy baseball league run by a mutual friend. The two bonded over their shared conservative and libertarian political beliefs which were unique amongst their mostly liberal friend group. At the time Luke was Christian and attended a non-denominational church affiliated Baptists. Luke is an avid baseball fan that also closely follows American politics. After his time in Secundomia and graduating law school, Luke is now an attorney in the United States. He has not been involved in micronationalism since 2011.
Political Beliefs
Luke considered himself a call centre-right conservative during his time in Secundomia. He was associated with the Secundomian Conservative Party. A core part of his politics was opposition to most types of environmentalism and he often spoke of his disbelief in man-made global warming. After leaving Secundomia, he changed many of these beliefs and evolved more towards the center.
Micronationalism
Secundomia
Luke joined Secundomia in the first wave of citizens. He pledged to be politically active in the country and was. Luke was unable to participate in much in-person Secundomian activities, yet was exceptionally active online. Luke was a freshman in High School for most of his involvement while most Secundomians were in Middle School at the time. This made his schedule and obligations different.
Electoral Activity
Luke first ran for office in the December 2009 Secundomian Election. Luke ran an aggressive campaign, promising to add more members to Secundomia and criticizing Co-Consuls Parker I and Spencer I. He argued that the brothers had deliberately set up the Constitution so that they could always remain in power. His slogan was "Vote for Luke and Vote for Freedom." After some controversy, Luke received Second Place in the election and was awarded the title of Co-President.
When running for re-election, Luke again attacked Parker I and Spencer I, saying that Spencer "had done nothing for Secundomia" and that Parker "tried to infringe upon your rights." Luke was incensed that Parker had abandoned him as a running mate and endorsed Spencer I. Luke was ultimately ousted from his presidential spot, replaced by Spencer. In a tiebreaker with Parker, he lost 2 to 1.
In later elections, Luke continued to struggle. He would often blame this on a lack of connection with Spencer's friend group, which made a significant portion of the electorate and had little contact with Luke outside of Secundomia. After a defeat in the February Primaries, he advanced in the March election and nearly won, but a surge of votes from Lower Secundomia kept him out of office.
Luke would finally be elected President in July 2010. The endorsement of Parker I would prove pivotal to receiving the Secundomian Conservative Party nomination. He defeated independent candidate Spencer I in the general election after Spencer was hamstrung by lack of internet access during the campaign phase. Although a popular president, Luke was ultimately defeated in his re-election campaign by his vice-president, Parker. Luke was less active after his defeat in September, with obligations at school competing for his time. He did not run for office again in Secundomia.
Presidential Term
Luke was a largely popular and inoffensive president. He presided over a period of internal peace for Secundomia, preferring to delegate most tasks to others. He was inactive in the intermicronational arena, deputizing Parker I with foreign relations. He released the most extensive list of cabinet members to date and implemented a heavily structured military. As part of these operations, the high level officials including Vice President Parker I and Spencer I met at the Gravois National Naval Base in the Secundomian Bay to christen several new vessels for the Navy. This was the first time the members of Secundomia had met in an official capacity. The nation became largely inactive however after Luke spent most the remainder of his term at summer camp. He lost re-election to Parker.
Local Politics
Luke founded the state of Merenneitoja in February 2010. Initially, the state consisted of just his backyard. It was expanded to contain the nearby school and eventually much of his neighborhood with the exception of Bu Ocajin. After Brett I failed to conduct elections in Bu Ocajin, it grew to annex its neighbor as well. Notoriously, the state's name (Finnish for Mermaid) was extremely hard to spell, with Luke himself often misspelling it.
Voitokas and the Finland Project
Although primarily a citizen of Secundomia, Luke was briefly a citizen of the nation of Voitokas. H of Halstopia, the founder of Voitokas, was the mutual friend who introduced Parker and Luke in the first place. Although H and Parker had become estranged, Luke was still close with H, who was his neighbor. Luke's political loyalties remained with Secundomia, however, and he notified Parker I of Voitokas's founding. He was enlisted as an agent in the Secundomian Intelligence Agency who initiated the Finland Project, a top secret surveillance operation in Voitokas.
Due to his service to the SIA, Luke was awarded the President's Honor Badge for his "extreme loyalty" to Secundomia. Parker I bestowed this upon Luke, who became the first and only recipient of the award. At the time, the Finland Project was still secret. When Voitokas fell, Parker and Luke declassified the operation.
Micronational Theory
As he was less often involved in intermicronational relations, Luke was not known for his contributions to Micronational Political theory. However, Luke firmly placed himself in the Simulationist camp alongside most Secundomians. Luke tacitly supported intermicronational conflict as a political simulation, although he advised against its use. He did neither supported nor opposed Sterling's entry into the Austenasian Civil War, yet he cautioned against Secundomia's involvement. This caution was one of the reasons Secundomia did not get involved outside a diplomatic support for the rebels.
