Preston Barton

    

Preston Barton
Official Portrait, 2020
Kingdom of Sierra Senator from the Inland Empire
Incumbent
Assumed office July 1, 2021 Serving with Harriet Barry and Hasan Finch
Preceded by	Eric Pipitone
Shadow Attorney General
In office January 7, 2021 – May 28, 2021
Leader	Kenneth O'Conner
Preceded by	Haley Guiliford
Succeeded by	Thomas Fitzpatrick
Member of the K.S House of Commons for Etiwanda (Inland Empire's 20th district)
In office December 16, 2016 – May 28, 2021
Preceded by	Allan Barton
Succeeded by	Garrett Meade
Personal details
Born	(1984-05-13) May 13, 1984 Riverside, Inland Empire, Sierra, KS
Political party	Royalist
Spouse(s)	Christina Foxx
Children	2
Relatives	See Barton family
Alma mater	University of Sierra, Berkeley

Preston James Barton (born May 5th, 1984) is a Sierran politician currently serving as a Commissioned senator from the Inland Empire since 2021 and previously served as the Shadow Attorney General of Sierra from January to May 2021. A member of the Royalist Party, Barton served as a member of the House of Commons, representing the Inland Empire constituency of Etiwanda, which includes Rancho Cucamonga and parts of Fontana and San Antonio, from 2016 to 2021. Barton is the eldest son of George Barton, the former Governor of the Inland Empire and is a member of the influential Barton political family.

Born and raised in Riverside, Inland Empire, Barton attended the University of Sierra, Berkeley, like many other members of his family, and obtained a degree in law. Barton became the legal advisor to many of his relatives political campaigns before entering politics himself in 2016, where he replaced his uncle, Allan Barton, as the Etiwanda constituency's next representative. As a Commoner, Barton has supported conservative and economically liberal legislation. After her election in 2017, Barton distanced himself away from Nemesis Heartwell and in rare instances publicly speak out against her. After the start of COVID-19 pandemic in Sierra, Barton was one of the many Royalist commoners to call for her resignation. However, he did not support the snap election that followed.

During the 2020 Royalist Party leadership election, he endorsed Kenneth O'Conner as party leader and attended the 2020 Royalist National Convention where he appeared as a keynote speaker on the third day speaking about patriotism in Sierra. After O'Conner became Leader of the Royalist Party, he was appointed to serve as Shadow Attorney General in his shadow cabinet and was elected as the chair of the House Royalist Conference. Barton has emerged as an influential and powerful figure within the Royalist Party and is commonly considered to be part of the Big Three alongside O'Conner and Isabelle Huynh.

In the 2021 federal election, Barton narrowly lost re-election to right wing Christian Democrat Garrett Meade in what has been dubbed as the most surprising election defeat of the night. Following his defeat, Barton resigned from the shadow cabinet and as chair of the House Royalist Conference, though affirmed that his career in politics was not over. On June 11, he announced his candidacy for the Senate primary to replace outgoing commissioned senator Eric Pipitone. He was elected with an overwhelming majority on July 1, and assumed office the same day.

Barton is a one-nation conservative and economic liberal. On social policies, Barton opposes abortion, though believes the issue should be determined by the provinces. He contrasts most of his party in remaining neutral towards same-sex marriage, though early in his political career he did oppose its legalization. On economic issues, Barton opposes "unnecessary" government regulations and is a proponent for lower taxes. He has been critical of the public healthcare system in Sierra, and has promoted private alternatives. Barton supports repealing the National Health Protection Act of 2020. On foreign policy, Barton is opposed to the influence of the United Commonwealth, believing that Sierra should "play a bigger role" in combating Continental influence. Barton identifies as a soft Ameroskeptic, supporting a second referendum regarding the Conference of American States.

Early life and education

Preston James Barton was born on May 5th, 1984 at the Riverside Community Hospital in Riverside, Inland Empire to George and Sara Barton. His father at the time was serving in the K.S. Senate representing the Inland Empire while his mother served as a political commentator of RBS News. Barton was born into the politically influential Barton family, with his father being the patriarch of the family.

Barton grew up as the oldest of nine siblings, having five brothers and three sisters. Barton spent his childhood growing up at the Barton's Prairie, a large estate owned by the Barton family located just outside Riverside. Barton was introduced to politics early in his life, attending a number of political events hosted by his father and other members of his family. During his later teenage years, he assisted in the campaigns of a number of his relatives, including his uncle Allen Barton, whom he would succeed in 2016.

At the age of five, Barton began attending private tutoring lessons at Barton's Prairie. His instructor's described Barton as "curious" and "very knowledge hungry". He was tutored at home until the end of his middle school education. Barton began attending the private Alessandro Academy in 1998 for his high school education. While at high school, Barton was apart of his school's baseball team, playing as a pitcher. He eventually became infield captain during his senior year. Barton also joined the Royalist Party during his senior year, becoming a member of the party's youth organization, Young Royalists of Sierra. Barton graduated from Alessandro Academy in 2002. He was inducted into the school's hall of alumni in 2018.

In 2003, Barton began attending the University of Sierra, Berkeley, hoping to achieve a degree in law. Barton minored in political science, which led to speculation that he would be following in the footsteps of his father. While at university, Barton became more politically active, taking a more active role in the Royalist Party. As a representative of his family, Barton campaigned with local Royalist candidates. His experiences as a conservative in a largely "left-wing" university formed many of his opinions regarding education reform in his political career. In 2004, Barton became a member of the university's political debate team, becoming leader of the Conservative Ideas and Policies Team. Barton participated in the 2005 University of Sierra Inter-College Debate Competition, winning first place. Barton attempted to join the school's baseball team, but was rejected.

Instead of pursuing a legal career, Barton became the unofficial legal advisor of the Barton family, assisting many of his relatives regarding legal matters. As the heir of the Barton family, Barton assisted his father in campaigning for Royalists during the 2010 Inland Empire general election, securing his father's third term in office as governor. Barton was a guest host of panels in the 2013 and 2015 Conservative Action and Policy Summits.

Political career

House Commoner

Elections

After the Early Parliamentary Federal Election Act of 2016 was passed, Allan Barton announced his retirement from politics after nearly twenty years in office. Barton announced his candidacy to succeeded his uncle in representing Etiwanda on November 1 and while he was accused of trying to "weasel" his way into public office and he was accused of benefiting from nepotism, he faced token opposition in the Royalist primary and was easily made the Royalist nominee for the district. In the ensuing 2016 federal election, Barton won beating his Democratic-Republican opponent by over 20 points. During the 2020 snap election, he won re-election, but won by 13 points due to his Christian Democratic opponent managing to chip away at some of his support, though he was still re-elected by a wide margin to the 78th Parliament of Sierra. In 2021, in a stunning result, Barton was narrowly elected out of office, being replaced by right wing Christian Democrat Garrett Meade.

Tenure

During his first year as an MP, he was supportive of Daniel McComb citing that he was the only one to unify the Royalist Party to defeat the Democratic-Republican-led coalition government and was willing to disregard any previous ideological differences he has saying that they were "not important" during the 2016 federal election and stated his intent to support him if elected to the House of Commons. During McComb's premiership, Preston voted with McComb 85% of the time only criticizing him publically for when he attempted to normalize relations with the United Commonwealth claiming that he was legitimizing the "crimson dictatorship" of the Commonwealth during an interview with the EBN. When McComb sent Sierran troops to Manchuria to support CAS forces in the country and later more troops to Syria, Barton voted in favor of both motions calling it necessary to countering Chinese influence and terrorism in both respective countries.

During the McCombgate scandal in October 2017, Barton had echoed the Royalist Party's official response claiming that the allegations were exaggerated and that a proper investigation should be carried out before any conclusion could be made. He claimed that McComb shouldn't have resigned and accused the mainstream media of smearing him in an attempt to "discredit" the Sierran conservative movement and undermine McComb's achievements. During the 2017 Royalist Party leadership election, Barton endorsed Kenneth O'Conner for party leader and while he congratulated Nemesis Heartwell when she won, he still expressed vocal criticisms of her and her populist policies. During Heartwell's premiership, Barton voted in favor for 65% of the legislation her government proposed and largely supported her leadership. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he criticized her government's refusal to implement a monthly stimulus check program accusing her of leaving Sierra's people to suffer from the virus and joined with other Royalist dissenters in calling for her resignation over "criminal incompetence".

Despite calling for her resignation amid allegations of anti-semitism, Barton opposed the Early Parliamentary Federal Election Act of 2020, calling early elections a ploy for the opposition to capitalize on the "politicized environment" and to overthrow a "popularly elected government". During the 2020 federal election, Barton campaigned on preserving Sierra's conservative values and government accusing the progressive opposition of attempting to subvert the Sierran monarchy and the country's traditional values and institutions. Her particularly made Social Democrat leader Susan Kwon the centerpiece of his campaign highlighting her exceptional performance in the polls, especially taking into account historic polling trends for the Social Democrats, and accused her of being a "sleeper agent" for the republican movement to abolish the monarchy. After Kwon was elected Prime Minister after her party won the largest plurality in an otherwise hung parliament, he promised to take a more active role in the Royalist-led opposition even if he wasn't selected to be part of Heartwell's opposition cabinet.

Following the election of Kenneth O'Conner as Royalist leader, Barton joined O'Conner's shadow cabinet as Shadow Attorney General. He was also elected as chair of the House Royalist Conference, making him the third most-powerful Royalist in parliament during the 65th parliamentary session. Barton voted in favor of the Organic Act of 2021 which established Bajaría as the fourth constituted country of Sierra and organized all of Sierra's territories in El Norte into the new country as states while creating a fifth state for Bajaría called South Sonora. Barton supported the creation of Bajaría and travelled to South Sonora to attend an event held by members of the recently formed Conservative and Unionist Party of Bajaría where he promised cooperation between the Conservative Unionist and Royalist parties and looked forward towards future cooperation in Parliament.

On April 22, Susan Kwon proposed the Public Security Reformation Act of 2021 which pushes for the reduction of police spending by 30% and to reallocate the funds towards other social services and other forms of public safety. The bill caused outcry from conservative MPs with Barton giving the rebuttal of the bill for the House Royalist Conference where he denounced it as "a pathway to far-left anarchy" and condemned the wider police abolition movement accusing both the movemenet and Kwon's bill of threatening Sierran public security and safety. On April 27, he supported the Civilian Security Protection Act of 2021 proposed by the Christian Democrats which calls for the establishment of a federal commission to investigate allegations of police brutality as a means of increasing police accountability as a moderate alternative to Kwon's Public Safety Reform Act.

Barton was narrowly defeating in his 2021 re-election bid, being defeated by right-wing Christian Democrat Garrett Meade. In his concession speech, Barton resigned from the shadow cabinet and as chair of the House Royalist Conference, and apologized to his constituents for "failing to properly represent them".

Committee assignments

• Committee on Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights
• Committee on Defense
  • Subcommittee on Ground and Tactical Forces

Caucus memberships

• Royalist Study Committee
• Parliamentary Union Caucus
• Southwest Parliamentary Conference

Commissioned Senator

Committee assignments

• Committee on Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, Human Rights, and Property Rights
• Committee on Finance, Monetary Policy, and Community Development
  • Subcommittee on Foreign Trade and International Economic Policy

Caucus memberships

• Royalist Study Committee

Political positions

Main article: Political positions of Preston Barton

Personal life

Marriage, family, and interests

While attending the University of Sierra, Berkeley, Barton met and befriended Christina Foxx, a fellow student from Superior. The two eventually fell in love during their final year at the university. The couple began dating and eventually got married in January 2008 in an extravagant, and well publicized, wedding ceremony in Riverside, Inland Empire in the Governor's Mansion, being the first wedding in over 50 years to take place in the mansion. The couple welcomed their first child, Matthew, on December 18, 2008. Matthew is considered the one of the future heirs of the Barton family, and has a "political career ahead of him" according to Barton. On March 5th, 2010, the couple welcomed their second child, Elizabeth. In 2012, Elizabeth underwent extensive medical treatment after being diagnosed with a heart condition. She went on to fully recover by the end of the year.

Since childhood, Barton has been a fan of baseball, supporting the major league Rancho Cucamonga Quakes team. Barton is very vocal about the sport on his personal social media accounts and is regularly seen at many games. Barton is the co-captain of the Royalist Parliamentary Baseball Team, playing as a pitcher. Like other members of his family, Barton is both fluent in English and German, and is also able to understand and speak some French. Barton is also able to play the piano, among other instruments, and has reportedly played at many parliamentary events, including the 2019 Christmas Ball.

Electoral history

2016 federal election: Etiwanda
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Royalist	Preston Barton	122,366	61.1%	-1.2%
	Democratic-Republican	Ashton Lau	74,300	37.1%	+.8%
	Social Democrats	Miguel Gomez-Alteria	5,608	2.8%	-1.2%
Majority			48,066	24%	-1.6%
Turnout			200,271	55.5%	+1.1%
	Royalist hold		Swing

2020 federal election: Etiwanda
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Royalist	Preston Barton	120,121	59.3%	-1.3%
	Democratic-Republican	Brett Kannan	72,291	35.7%	-1.4%
	Christian Democratic	Marcos DeLeon	9,872	4.8%	+4.8%
Majority			47,200	24%	-1.6%
Turnout			202,284	57.5%	+2.0%
	Royalist hold		Swing

Vote to selected a Comissioned Senator
October 26, 2020	Party						Total votes
	Royalist	Democratic-Republican	Social Democratic	Christian Democratic	Libertarian	Green
Barton	69	0	0	3	5	0	77
Young	0	55	1	0	0	2	58
Patterson	0	0	0	4	0	0	4
Newark	1	0	0	0	1	0	2
Abstain	0	0	9	0	0	0	9
Result: Barton Elected

See also

• Barton family

Political offices
Preceded by Eric Pipitone	Commissioned senator for the Inland Empire Alongside: Harriet Barry and Hasan Finch July 1, 2021 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Allan Barton	Member of Parliament for Etiwanda (Inland Empire's 20th district) December 16, 2016 – May 28, 2021	Succeeded by Garrett Meade
Preceded by Haley Guiliford	Shadow Attorney General January 12 – May 28, 2021	Succeeded by Thomas Fitzpatrick
Party political offices
Preceded by Donald Cannon	Chair of the House Royalist Conference January 12 – May 28th, 2021	Succeeded by Carol Watterson