Donald Hartford

    

Donald Hartford MP
Hartford in 2020.
Secretary of the Treasury
Incumbent
Assumed office March 2, 2022
Monarch	William II
President	Isaac Dillon
Preceded by	Alexander Kennedy
Shadow Secretary of the Treasury
In office May 5th, 2021 – January 7, 2022
Monarch	William II
Leader	Isaac Dillon
Preceded by	Ted Thills
Succeeded by	TBD
Member of the House of Delegates from Lakeside-Congdon (Arrowhead's 5th district)
Incumbent
Assumed office July 13th, 2020
Preceded by	Steve Ludgood
Personal details
Born	(1950-12-18) December 18, 1950 New Hamburg, Lansing, Superior
Nationality	Superian
Political party	United Conservative Party (2012–Present)
Other political affiliations	Liberal Democratic (1990–1993) Independent (1993–2000; 2001–2012) Reform Alliance (2000–2001)
Spouse(s)	Allison Wendig (m. 1974; div. 1980) Isabelle Carolinga (m. 1990)
Children	5
Education	University of Minnesota

Donald William Hartford (born December 18th, 1950) is a Superian politician and businessman serving as Secretary of the Treasury since 2022 and previously served as Shadow Secretary of the Treasury from 2021 to 2022. A member of the United Conservative Party, Hartford has served as a member of the House of Delegates since 2020, representing eastern Duluth and parts of Two Harbors in Arrowhead.

Born and raised in New Hamburg, Lansing, Hartford would be born into the wealthy Hartford family. Hartford would attend and graduate from the University of Minnesota, obtaining a degree in business administration and economics. After a few years working for his father, Hartford would establish the Hartford Corporation, a company revolving around financing, in New Hamburg and would become the youngest millionaire in Superior following his company's expansion into other ventures, such as shipping and construction. He would become known nationally for his unabashed and "no-filter" personality, which has thrown him into a multitude of controversies. Beginning in the 1980s, Hartford would become more politically involved, at first being a supporter of the Liberal Democratic Party before becoming a right-leaning independent and later a member of the United Conservative Party. After the 2015 election of Jennifer Granholm, Hartford would begin vocally opposing her government, commonly promoting false or overexaggerated statements about her and her government. In 2017, Hartford would resign as President and CEO of the Hartford Corporation in preparation of entering politics.

Though originally intending to run in the 2019 federal election, Hartford would decline to do so and instead run in the snap election the following year, being elected to the House of Delegates representing Lakeside-Congdon. His election would be a surprise and would gain media attention, as he defeated longtime incumbent Steve Ludgood in what was considered one of the safest Farmer Labor districts in Arrowhead. Due to his past experince in economics, Hartford would be appointed to Isaac Dillon's Shadow Cabinet as the Shadow Secretary of the Treasury.

Politically, Hartford considers him a social conservative and a nationalist, though political experts classify Hartford as a right wing populist, akin to Anietta Johnson of the Constitution and Unionist Party and former Prime Minister of Sierra Nemesis Heartwell. He considers himself a "proud member" of the growing right wing movement in Anglo-America. Hartford is a opponent of abortion, referring to it as murder. Unlike many of his fellow United Conservatives, Hartford is a supporter of gay marriage, though has been accused of homophobia in the past. Hartford also supports massive education reforms, being a strong advocate for "patriotic education" and the 1866 Initiative. Hartford is opposed to tax increases and greater government spending, calling it "essentially Landonism". Hartford is also a strong opponent of illegal immigration. On foreign policy, Hartford opposes the normalization of relations with the United Commonwealth and has one of the strongest supporters of the construction of a border wall between Superior and the United Commonwealth. He is also opposed to continued membership in the Conference of American States and has stated support for Superior's withdrawal from continued intervention in the Middle East.

Early life, education, and career

Donald William Hartford was born on December 18th, 1950 to Theodore and Lisa Hartford in New Hamburg, Lansing. He would be born into the wealthy Hartford family, being a direct descendant of William Hartford, one of the founders of the city of New Hamburg...

Political career

House Delegate

Donald Hartford was sworn into the House of Delegates on July 13th four days after the 2020 federal election. Hartford himself became one of the newest members of the United Conservative Party's national conservative faction that has been gaining influence since Isaac Dillon was elected the party's leader in 2018. Due to his past business career and public image, Hartford garnered the most media attention of the newly elected MPs to the House of Delegates and so Dillon would host an event celebrating the new United Conservative MPs with Hartford getting the most attention and laid out his platform during the conference stating support for low taxes, opposing Landonism, and to promote a new conservative agenda.

Throughout the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic in Superior, Hartford would be critical of many lockdowns and other measures taken by state governments to curtail the spread of COVID-19 calling them "excessive" and accused Jennifer Granholm, her government, and liberal governors of impeeding on the personal freedoms of Superian citizens.

Shadow Secretary of the Treasury

On May 5, 2021, Hartford was appointed to the position of Shadow Secretary of the Treasury by Isaac Dillon due to his past experience with finance during his business career. Hartford thanked Dillon with the two of them appearing in a small press conference to announce his appointment which garnered more media attention than other Dillon appointees to his shadow cabinet due to Hartford's name recognition, his upset victory in 2021, and his controveries. In a video Hartford made and posted to his Bubbler account, he stated that he would work to propose a "practical, more functional, and effective" alternative budget and attacked current Treasury Secretary Alexander Kennedy for his "far-left utopian" budget proposals and policies.

On June 10, Hartford held a press conference where he announced that the Shadow Cabinet had finalized a proposed alternative budget to the one put forward and enacted by the Granholm government. Officially designated the "Alternative Fiscal Budget for 2021", the plan called for increase in military spending, the construction of a militarized border wall along the Superior–United Commonwealth border, and the reduction of funds for welfare programs with Hartford calling them "bloated" and "overgrown to the point of ineffectiveness". The proposed budget was condemned by the Progressive Bloc for its anti-Continental immigration proposals, proposed reduction of the social safety net, and calls for increasing funding to the Superian Armed Forces with a Connor Westing, Speaker of the House of Delegates, saying that the military was "already properly funded" and would not advance the budget to a vote.

Secretary of the Treasury

Hartford was announced to be Dillon's Treasury Secretary on January 4 as part of a list of nominee's for Dillon's cabinet following the United Conservative victory in the 2022 federal election. Hartford would be one of many cabinet nominees who were previously members of Dillon's Shadow Cabinet as from 2018 to 2022.

Other political activities

Main article: Political career of Donald Hartford

Hartford speaking at the 2021 CAPS summit in Edmonton.

Hartford would attend the emergency summit of the Conservative Action and Policy Summit held in Edmonton, Augusta, in July 2021 where he spoke first on the second day giving the opening statements and discussing the topic of fiscal responsibility. In his speech, Hartford prided his achievements in the Shadow Cabinet's proposed alternative budgets calling them "sane, reasonable, and a hell more practical" than the "bloated far-left utopian" budgets proposed by the Third Granholm Administration. In his speech, he also bragged about his business career, campaigning abilities, and how he was "the most obvious and reasonable" pick for Shadow Secretary of the Treasury. He would lambast Alexander Kennedy, current Secretary of the Treasury, for being "extreme, radical, and a utopian far-left ideologue" citing his budgets which included increased spending for social welfare programs, reducing military spending by 10%, and an increased focus on green energy and climate change accusing them of being impractical and also said that "the Farmer Labor bastard from Rochester will bankrupt us" if the budget was to be fully passed without compromise. His attacks on Kennedy were condemned as divisive and inaccurate due to the recent budget proposals being altered to suit more moderate members of the Liberal Democratic Party and Progressive Bloc MPs with Kennedy saying "Compromise is a good move if practical and doesn't abandon the original vision" on his personal Bubbler account.

On July 28, Hartford and Anietta Johnson held a rally titled "Liberate Uppasala" where he campaigned in support of Daniel Meijer calling him the "one true governor that the commonwealth deserves" and accused Larry Parker and the Uppasala Board of Elections of rigging the election in Parker's favor while accusing Roger Ferguson of launching a "weak-ass, phony, and ruse investigation" due to its conclusion that Parker had won the election despite the tight margin. He would also endorse Meijer for a potential run for parliament saying that he "deserves a seat in the House of Delegate and in the chambers of federal government". The speech was condemned for promoting the myth of Meijer being deprived of a victory due to fraud and for supporting protests that have escalated into riots and caused millions in property damage in Uppasala alone.

Hartford had been heavily invovled in the wave of protests against Jennifer Granholm in response to the Courtgate scandal and organized rallies on September 17. Hartford started and lead protests in support of Arrowhead governor Anna Cooper and began the Stand with the Governors campaign on September 18 to show support for states' rights and opposition to what he calls government overreach. Hartford himself has called his involvement in the protests personal due to the leaked phonecall that started Courtgate showing Granholm insult Arrowhead and most of its electorate and called the phonecall a "complete and utter disgrace".

Donald Hartford appeared at CAPS 2022 on March 3 in Omaha, Nebraska where he spoke on Day 2 of the convention on the topic of fiscal responsibility in his first speech as Secretary of the Treasury and harshly criticized the fiscal policies of his predecessor. On April 6, 2022, Hartford appeared as a special guest on Freedom Unlimited, a conservative political podcast based in the Antilles, with co-host Mitch O'Brian, a prominent Antillean-American conservative activist and Continental defector. In the episode, Hartford discussed the Caribbean diplomatic crisis, the sudden shift in foreign and economic policies towards the Continental States and the Andes among CAS and European Community member states since the crisis started, and his push for pursue the recognition of Antillean independence within Superior citing his Antillean Recognition Act in the House of Delegates. The episode garnered over 3.5 million views in total across listeners in Anglo-America, making it one of the highest viewed episodes of the series.

Political positions

Main article: Political positions of Donald Hartford

Donlad Hartford has described himself in various different ways throughout his life in regards to his politcal positions and beliefs, however he has consistently been classified as conservative by himself, personal friends, political allies and political observers and experts. He has expressed right-wing populist and nationalist positions, especially since 2015. He has endorsed and suppored many populist conservative politicians and has friends and connections with the national conservative wing of the United Conservative Party. Hartford identifies as a fiscal conservative and has supported reducing funding for what he calls "bloated and needless" government programs and increasing funds for the Superian Armed Forces.

Hartford is an argent anti-Landonist, denouncing the United Commonwealth as a beligerent state and opposes normalizing relations with the nation. Since 2016, Hartford has voiced support for building a border wall on the Superior–United Commonwealth border and supported the International Freedom and Trade Act which imposed sanctions and an embargo on Continental goods and those from the United People's Committees in response to the Amazonas incident. Hartford signed the Lisbon Charter in December 2020 and has promoted the document on numerous occasions. Hartford supports recognizing the Antilles as an independent state and proposed the Antillean Recognition Act in March 2022.

See also

• New Right (Anglo-America)