Autumn Hurst

    

Autumn Hurst MP
Secretary of Foreign Affairs
In office December 16, 2018 – January 7, 2022
Monarch	William II
President	Jennifer Granholm
Preceded by	Peter Olson
Succeeded by	Andrew Keyes
Leader of the Green Party
In office December 16, 2018 – July 2, 2022
Preceded by	Peter Olson
Succeeded by	Howard Hawkins
Member of the House of Delegates for Brooklyn Park (Minneapolis's 12th district)
Incumbent
Assumed office October 6, 2015
Preceded by	Harrison Maniford
Member of the Minneapolis State Assembly for North Brooklyn Park
In office October 7, 2011 – October 6, 2015
Preceded by	Annie January
Succeeded by	Mark Servo
Personal details
Born	(1981-04-04) April 4, 1981 Saint Anthony, Minneapolis, Superior
Nationality	Superian
Political party	Green
Spouse(s)	James Harrison
Children	1
Education	University of Minneapolis

Autumn Angela Hurst (born April 4, 1981) is a Superian politician and diplomat who served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs from 2018 to 2022 in the Cabinet of Superior under Jennifer Granholm. A member of the Green Party, Hurst has been a Member of the House of Delegates from Minneapolis representing the district of Brooklyn Park since 2015.

Born and raised in Saint Anthony, Hurst would graduate from the University of Minneapolis with a degree in political science. After university, Hurst would become a campaign and staff intern for Green House Delegate Harrison Maniford, who she would succeed in the near future. In 2011, she would become a member of Minneapolis State Assembly for North Brooklyn Park. Her career in the state assembly would be largely uneventful. In 2015, Hurst announced her intentions to succeed Harrison Maniford as the member of the House Delegate for Brooklyn after Maniford would announce his retirement. Hurst would easily win the election, being ceremonially sworn in mid October 2015. As a House Delegate, Hurst has supported environmentally friendly and progressive legislation. Before the creation of the Progressive Bloc in December 2015, Hurst was a vocal proponent for an alliance with the Liberal Democrats. Hurst was a big proponent of the National Acceptance Act, which legalized gay marriage, and the National Parks Act, which add more federal protections for national parks, and lowered criteria for areas to be designated as national parks.

In 2018, shortly after the resignation of Peter Olson, Hurst would announce her candidacy for the Green Party's leadership. Hurst would represent the younger generation of Green members. She would go onto win the leadership election, becoming the leader of the Green Party of Superior on December 16, 2018. She would also replace Olson as Secretary of Foreign Affairs. As Leader of the Green Party, Hurst continued to support the government of Jennifer Granholm and the overall Progressive Bloc. She has also continued to support progressive and environmentally-friendly legislation.

Throughout her political career, Hurst has supported Jennifer Granolm in parliament and after becoming one of the leaders of the Progressive Bloc. Even during Courtgate, Hurst continued to reaffirm the Green Party's support for Granholm, refusing to resign or withdrawal from the alliance, and notably questioned the legitimacy of the claims made against her, even the testimony of George Hargreeves despite his case being the most compelling and have the best evidence. This move caused significant internal division within the Green Party with left-wing members calling for her resignation from party leadership. As a snap election drew closer, many within the Old Guard began calling for a boycott of the election in protest and called on their supporters to not back Hurst. The ensuing 2022 federal election would be the worst showing of the Green Party in its history losing a net 10 seats. On January 4, Hurst announced her resignation as the party's leader leading to a new leadership election. She would be succeed by author and activist Howard Hawkins on July 2, 2022.

Hurst considers herself as a social progressive and environmentalist. Hurst is a very vocal supporter of more regulations on big businesses, especially businesses in the fossil fuels industry. She is also a big supporter of renewable energy, calling for a nationwide transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Hurst has been on record calling Superian working in the fossil fuel industry as "environmental murderers", which has resulted in criticism. Hurst is against the homegtown ideology of Green Utopianism, calling it "unrealistic and quite dystopian" and has been influential in it's removal from her party. As Secretary of Foreign Affairs, she has pushed for the normalization of relations with the United Commonwealth in order to promote a more peaceful atmosphere in the region. She is also a supporter of the Conference of American States, supporting increased federalization in the organization, and a supporter of Superior's involvement in NATO and the League of Nations.

Early life, education, and career

Autumn Angela Hurst was born on April 4, 1981 to Markus and Wilhelmina Hurst in Saint Anthony, Minneapolis. Her father, Markus, was a language translator for SBC News, while her mother, Wilhelmina, was a stage actress working at the St. Anthony Royal Theatre. Both of her parents were first generation Superians, with both her maternal and paternal grandparents originating from Germany. Hurst would be born the youngest out of five siblings, having three older sisters and one older brother. Due the age gaps between her three sisters and her and her brother, Hurst is much more closer with her brother than her sisters. The Hurst family would grow up in the suburbs of Saint Anthony. Like her other siblings, Hurst grew up learning English and German.

Hurst would begin attending school at the age of five, attending St. Anthony Elementary School and later St. Anthony Junior High School. After graduating from both schools, Hurst would attend St. Anthony High School. There she would begin to become politically active. During her sophomore year, she would become a member of the Green Party youth organization, the Young Greens. As a Young Green, Hurst would participate in a number of political events, including the Better Earth Walkout Day, when students around Superior walked out of class to protest the rising threat of Climate Change. She was also a keynote speaker at the 1998 Green Party Youth Conference, where she would give a fiery speech about climate change and the protection of the environment. She attempted to enter school politics, running for class president. However, she would be defeated. According to high school friends, Hurst was "the typical climate activist", going around the school with petitions. Hurst would graduate from St. Anthony High School in 1999.

In 2000, Hurst began attending the University of Minneapolis, working to obtain a bachelor's degree in political science. Hurst claims that university was a "enlightening experience", teaching her to moderate her "radical climate views". Hurst would enter school politics again, this time successfully becoming a member of the university's student legislature. She would attempt to run for class president, however she would again fail. Like high school, Hurst was an active member of the school's Green Party, continuing her activism, albeit more moderately. In 2002, she would be elected leader of the University of Minneapolis Green Party, although she would resign from the position in 2003 after her father was hospitalized due to a automotive accident. Hurst would participate in the 2004 Multi-Partisan University Debate, which is when members of each political organization on campus. Her debate performance was mixed, with many criticizing her for her unneeded aggressiveness. Hurst would graduate from the University of Minneapolis in 2005 with a bachelor's degree in political science.

After job searching for more than a year, Hurst would become a campaign aide, and later staff member, for House Delegate Harrison Maniford, the representative for Brooklyn Park and a fellow Green Party member. As a member of Maniford's staff, Hurst learned the ins and outs of the nation's legislature and become an unofficial student of Maniford, as he taught her the procedures and workings of the House of Delegates. In 2011, Hurst would resign from her position on Maniford's staff to run for the Minneapolis State Assembly.

Political career

State Assemblywoman

Election

In 2011, Hurst would declare her candidacy for a seat in the Minneapolis State Assembly, hoping to replace incumbent Liberal Democrat Annie January as representative of North Brooklyn Park. The election would be classified as toxic politics, since Hurst and January would constantly trade insults between each other, which were usually rude or inoffensive. On election night, Hurst would narrowly defeat January, winning 50.6% of the vote. Following her defeat, January would remain a harsh critic of Hurst, even as she became a House Delegate. Hurst would not seek re-election in 2015, instead running for the House of Delegates.

Tenure

Hurst's tenure as a state assemblywoman was largely viewed as uneventful. The majority of the bills Hurst and the state Green Party sponsored were largely considered too radical for Minneapolis. Some of the bills supported by Hurst included banning private ownerships of recreational areas, lowering the drinking and smoking age to 18, and ending private schooling. It is widely considered that Hurst's bills, and the Green Party's support of them, would result in the Green Party's disastrous defeat in the 2015 Minneapolis legislative election. By 2013, Hurst would largely become inactive, supporting her fellow party member's bills.

House Delegate

Election

In 2015, House Delegate and Hurst's mentor, Harrison Maniford, would announce that he would not seek re-election in the 2015 federal election, retiring from a long career in politics. After his announcement, Hurst, who was planning not to seek re-election into the Minneapolis State Assembly, announced her candidacy to succeed Maniford as a member of the House of Delegates for Brooklyn Park. Hurst would run a relatively easy campaign, as Brooklyn Park had been under the Green Party for more than thirty years. However, she did face a tough primary challenge, narrowly defeating political activist Anna Keump. Hurst would win the election, winning over 50% of the vote. She would continue to win re-election in 2019 and 2020.

Tenure

As a House Delegate, Hurst has supported socially progressive and liberal legislation. She was a vocal supporter of the National Acceptance Act, which legalized gay marriage. Even with her toxic history with the Liberal Democratic Party, Hurst supported the creation of a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, which would eventually come to fruition in December 2015 with the Progressive Bloc. From 2016 to 2017, Hurst supported a multitude of environmentally-friendly legislation, including the National Parks Act which added more federal protections for national parks and the Bravo Act, which added more environmental restrictions and regulations on big businesses. In 2018, before she was elected leader of the Green Party, Hurst participated in a legislative walkout after the Conservative Coalition proposed the Freedom of Speech Act, which would have stuck down many amendments of the Hate Crime Act. As of 2020, she is considered one of the least multi-partisan House Delegates and is considered one of the most progressive House Delegates.

Leader of the Green Party

In 2018, longtime Green Party leader Peter Olson would announce his intentions to retire from politics, and in turn, the leadership position. Because of her popularity among younger members of the party, Hurst would declare her candidacy for the leadership position of the Green Party in September of 2018. Hurst would run initially unopposed, however, nearing the end of the election, High Councilor Sergio Jaramillo from Iowa would declare his candidacy. Jaramillo was very popular among older members of the party, who still made up a good size of the Green Party. Despite this, Hurst would go onto win the election, becoming leader of the Green Party on December 16th, 2018. Hurst would also become the Secretary of Foreign Affairs.

As Leader of the Green Party, Hurst continued many of the policies promoted by Peter Olson, which has been described as moderated and tame. She continued supporting the recruitment drives first initiated by her predecessor, hoping to recruit more younger Superians. She also continued to phase out many of the founding ideas of the Green Party, including Green Utopianism. She also continued to support the Granholm government and the overall Progressive Bloc, hoping the Green Party can continue to support the Liberal Democrats for "the foreseeable future". She is against merging the two parties, however, a suggestion supported by some members of her party.

Division and resignation

During Courtgate, Hurst sided with Granholm and stated the Green Party's support behind her as well as questioning the validity of the corruption allegations and denying many of them. This lead to significant controversy within the party as more left-wing members opposed this move and called on Hurst to rescind her statements and push for Granholm to resign as president. These calls worsened after she questioned the validity of George Hargreeves and his allegations which were viewed as the most credible case against Granholm. This caused Isaac Hoffman to resign as Chair of the Green Party Executive Committee in protest and the division continued to plague party over the course of the campaign season for the 2022 federal election and diminished the party's standing in the polls as a result.

Political positions

Main article: Political positions of Autumn Hurst

Hurst describes herself as a social progressive and a environmentalist. Hurst supports the continuation of laws protecting racial and religious minorities in Superior, hoping that these protections would help them succeed futher in Superior. Hurst supports placing greater regulations on big businesses, and has even supported breaking up large coporations, which she claims violate anti-trust laws established in Superior. Hurst supports the creation of a universal, single-payer healthcare system, and supports ending privatized healthcare and health insurance. She also supports a nationwide defunding of police organizations, and supports breaking up police unions, calling them unlawful and counter-productive to progressive change. Hurst is a opponent of Green Utopianism, considering the ideology "radical" and "dystopian" and has stated her support for removing the ideology from the party. Hurst is a supporter of the Superian Monarchy, which sets her apart from the largely Republican Green Party.

On foreign policy, as Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Hurst has supported the normalization of relations with the United Commonwealth and other Landonist states, believing that a positive relationship between the UC and Superior would ensure "decades of peace". She has criticized the Conservative Coalition for "jeopardizing [her] work", referring to the threats of diplomatic isolation made by the United Commonwealth in response to comments made by members of the Conservative Coalition. Hurst is also supportive of the Conference of American States, hoping that one day the organization would unite to form a "unified, federal entity". Hurst supports greater immigration into Superior and granting citizenship to illegal immigrants who currently live and work in Superior.

Personal life

Marriage, family, and interests

In 2003, while attending the University of Minneapolis, Hurst would begin a romantic relationship with fellow student James Harrison. After a few years of dating, the two would marry in 2007. The couple would have their first and currently only child, Maximillian, on June 3, 2010. According to an 2019 interview, Hurst confirmed that she did not have plans to have more children after suffering a "traumatic pregnancy". In the same interview, Hurst denounced the belief that woman are expected to have more than one child, believing said belief was rooted in "patriarchal discrimination". In 2020, Hurst confirmed she was diagnosed with postnatal depression. Hurst is a avid fan of Ice Hockey, supporting the Saint Anthony Wildcards. She is also a fan of Soccer, however she claims she has no favorite team. Hurst considers herself a canine lover and owns three purebred German Shepherds.

Hurst has been known for her thick and sometimes hard to understand German accent. On a number of occasions when addressing the House of Deputies, members have asked Hurst to repeat her statements or questions, which Hurst herself believes is "quite funny". On one occasion, Hurst had to repeat herself a total of four times when answering Leader of Opposition Isaac Dillon question regarding Superior's status within the Conference of American States in 2014.

Electoral History

Main article: Electoral history of Autumn Hurst

See also

• 2018 Green Party of Superior leadership election