Arian Lawrence 2020 presidential campaign
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| Campaigned for |
2020 Antillean presidential election 2020 Federalist primaries |
|---|---|
| Candidate |
Arian Lawrence Secretary of the Army (2013–2021) Mitchell Vargas U.C. Representative from Hispaniola (1993–2021) |
| Affiliation | Federalist Party |
| Status |
Announced: March 1, 2019 Presumtive nominee: June 30, 2020 Official nominee: July 14, 2020 Won election: November 3, 2020 |
| Headquarters | Davis, Hispaniola |
| Key people |
Bradley Pascal (campaign manager) Xavier Rodriguez (outreach manager and spokesperson) Mitch O'Brian (outreach manager) Jack Murton (communications and outreach director) Joe Mendez (policy advisor) |
| Slogan |
"Time for a Strong America" "Keep America Alive" |
| Chant | U-S-A! (unofficial, popular) |
| ||
|---|---|---|
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History and personal 34th President of the UCA Tenure and Policies Elections  |
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Secretary of the Army and former Providence Military Training Center instructor Arian Lawrence announced his presidential campaign March 1, 2019, seeking to obtain the Federalist Party nomination to be their candidate for the 2020 Antillean presidential election.
Lawrence had long since been speculated as a potential candidate for the presidency due to his prominance in national politics, having first gained attention as a political figure in 2008 and later ran for the Federalist nomination during the 2012 Puerto Rico gubernatorial election. He was described as political ambitious by many in the media throughout his tenure as Secretary of the Army, seeking to expand the size of the United Commonwealth Army and expressing openly nationalist and right-populist positions that was in conflict with the Federalist Party establishment. In February 2019, then-incumbent president Michael Abarough announced that he wouldn't run for president and Lawrence would announce less than a month later, issuing his date of announcement a day after Abarough chose not to run. Posting his announcement onto social media accounts, Lawrence announces his candidacy and declared that he would run on protecting traditional and family values, as a self-described American patriot, and expressed anti-establishment populist positions, calling for a return to the party's historic roots. Throughout the primaries, Lawrence was the main representative for the populist wing of the Federalist Party and was one of the main contenders for the party's nomination for the general election against the Civic Democratic Party.
In the ensuing Federalist primaries, Lawrence would run in the most competative primary race since 2008 and competed in a race with ten total candidates running for the nomination. Despite the crowded race, Lawrence emerged as one of the frontrunners and garnered significant support among the Federalist base with his biggest and and main ideological primary opponent being Robert Kozlowski, the mayor of Fort Hood, Hispaniola and the main candidate representing the party's establishment wing, being in-line with Michael Abarough. In a deeply competative race, Lawrence emerged victorious as the presumtive nominee on June 30, 2020, and was formally declared the party's nominee on July 14 at the Federalist National Convention. Lawrence would select Mitchell Vargas, U.C. Representative from Hispaniola's 52nd district as his running mate on July 16 at a campaign rally. The Lawrence–Vargas ticket would go on to face off against the Civic Democratic ticket of William Abernathy and Allen Paul for the general election on November 3.
The Lawrence-Vargas ticket emerged victorious on election day, winning 57.1% of the popular vote or 10.053 million votes and 143 delegates from the Electoral Congregation. Lawrence's win would be the smallest margin of victory for any Federalist candidate, a feat partly due to him being the first non-Abarough family candidate since democratization, in terms of both the percentage and raw number of votes. Lawrence was sworn in as president on January 20, 2021, as the 34th president.
Background
Early political appearances
Arian Lawrence first gained national attention in 2006 for his role in the shooting at the Providence Military Training Center where Lawrence, then an instructor, led his students to safety and confronted the shooter where he managed to shoot and kill him, preventing further violence and loss of life. He would recieve praise for his actions, including by then-president William Abarough, however he wouldn't be awarded for his action much to major controversy. Lawrence would continue to serve as an instructor at the center and became more politically active to the point that he would appear as a speaker at the 2008 Federalist National Convention during the presidential election that year to show support Michael Abarough. At the convention, he spoke on the importance of bravery and personal responsibility along with support for patriotism, continuing claims on the American mainland, and a strong military.
2012 gubernatorial campaign
On October 4, 2011, Lawrence announced his candidacy to secure the Federalist nomination for the 2012 Puerto Rico gubernatorial election, aiming to unseat then-incumbent governor Felipe Diaz of the Reform Party. Lawrence announced his campaign at a rally which was broadcasted by both Columbia News and CBS News respectively. In his campaign, he accused Diaz of being a corrupt and elitist politician and ran on a populist-driven nationalistic and socially conservative platform, seeking to represent and mobilize an alleged silent politically conservative majority in Puerto Rico. Lawrence ran as the main candidate of a newly emering populist wing of the Federalist Party and was initially the frontrunner, but he would be displaced by Richard Glands, a television host and notable political activist, who represented the establishment wing of the Federalist Party and was endorsed by William Abarough. The primary race would be deeply competitive with Glands and Lawrence clashing on social issues and accusations were thrown against each other with Lawrence accusing Glands of promoting an obsolete form of politics while Glands accused Lawrence of being a political radical and an extremist due to his staunchly conservative positions on social issues.
Glands would emerge victorious in the primary election, winning 50.3% of the vote to Lawrence's 43.1%. Lawrence would concede the following day and endorsed Glands for the general election. Lawrence would also campaign for Glands and participated in rallies despite his attacks against him. One of the reasons for Lawrence's loss in the primary was his socially conservative and nationalist positions were unpopular among independent voters, who are allowed to vote in primary elections in Puerto Rico, due to them clashing with Puerto Rico's deeply liberal political culture and voting patterns. Nonetheless, Lawrence would garner attention among the Federalist base and more support for himself and future political endeavors.