PNCR Leader Aubrey C. Norton has irrefutably established that he is the clear choice of the members to continue as Leader of the Party. Nominations from various Party groups were submitted by regional officials at Congress Place today. Congress Administrator Sherwin Benjamin announced this afternoon that, of the 218 nominations submitted, the incumbent Leader received 177, or 81%. The remaining 19% was shared between six other nominees. These numbers, along with the enthusiasm of the scores of Norton supporters present during the submission of nominations, clearly indicate that, even if the other candidates do not withdraw, Aubrey C. Norton will sweep the elections. It will be an emphatic victory.
In 2021, Norton received just below 75% of the nominations and then secured 76% of the votes. He received 967 votes, compared to Joe Harmon’s 245 and Richard Van West Charles’s 65. This suggests that the current 81% nomination will result in 80+% of votes if 2021 is taken as a precedent.
Some might suggest that nominations are not elections, and this is true. However, it is a truth they might not like. In 2021, the voting was virtual because of COVID-19. This means that the 20+% who supported other candidates were not in an environment where they would tend to go along with groupthink and switch their vote to Norton. This Congress is different. Delegates will gather at Congress Place for the day, and groupthink could be in full effect. Many who did not nominate Norton will likely just go along, firstly to follow the overwhelming majority and secondly to project Party unity because it is clear their candidate cannot win.
The suggestion that things could be said at the Congress to cause Aubrey C. Norton to bleed support and lose the election is just fantasy. The fact is, Norton’s opponents spent two and a half years maligning him with unrelenting personal and sometimes vile attacks. They tried everything possible to denigrate and besmirch his character. The fact that the two-and-a-half-year vile campaign did not move the needle, and he secured 80% of the nominations, is a clear indication that nothing short of absolutely earthshaking could move the needle away from Norton. In fact, it is likely that things could be said on the floor of Congress that will move the needle in Norton’s direction.
Many Party members view that several aspects of the two-and-a-half-year campaign against the Party Leader bordered on being anti-party. Most likely, these sentiments will be fully ventilated at Congress, triggering a groundswell of Party loyalty. These candidates will have to prove to the membership that they did not set out to deliberately harm the Party.
The suggestion that Norton’s overwhelming nomination is just some statistic, since all that’s needed is one nomination, is laughable. The nomination process in the PNCR has always been an opinion poll that accurately predicted the outcome of elections in the Party. Based on these nominations, Aubrey C. Norton is returning as PNCR Leader with an overwhelming majority.