1992 Democratic Primaries

Background
Speaker Wonkeyblurts of Wisconsin decided to run for the nomination. The democratic establishment coalesced around him and most endorsed him. Speaker Wonkey's term was marked by economic populism and social centrism as well as the problem of Wonkey needing to manage unscrupulous behavior on the house floor. The democrats controlled a trifecta, so Wonkey was one of the leaders of major legislation that would go to President Nico Holland's desk. Wonkey was well liked by democrats as well as the national stage, and was also well known, another major aspect of his campaign. Garfunkel, on the other hand was a virtually unknown challenger that was "trying to fight for the voters that have been left behind".

The Democratic Primaries - First States
At the beginning of the campaign season, it was Speaker Wonkeyblurts that seemed to be the presumptive nominee, running virtually unopposed. Art Garfunkel of New York saw an opportunity and decided to jump in the race, framing himself as the more liberal, working class option. Due to Wonkeyblurts not campaigning frequently, Garfunkel leaped ahead of him for the first time in an Iowa Caucus poll. The race seemed to be narrowing up, with Garfunkel having a particularly strong base among progressives. Wonkeyblurts saw this as a wake up call and campaigned hard and fast. Soon after, the Iowa polls showed Wonkeyblurts ahead simply because of his campaigning.

The winner of the Iowa Caucus was Wonkeyblurts with 100% of the vote reporting. Wonkey was expected to win by more in Iowa, but it was nevertheless a much needed sigh of relief for the Wonkey campaign. He garnered 55% of the vote in Iowa and 26 delegates to Art's 45% and 21 delegates. This was Wonkey's worst showing by far on the "first night" of primaries in caucuses. He easily won the state of South Carolina by more than +70 points, and won New Hampshire by a slightly narrower +50 points. The Garfunkel campaign had counted on a win in Iowa and momentum in other first states, but their momentum was crushed by Wonkey's crucial victories.