Payden Hickock

  Payden Hickock was a political figure in the 27th Century and governor of St Lawrence    

Early Life

Born in 2590 on St Lawrence, Payden Hickock was a businessman and planet’s rights organizer. He was a hugely popular with the local Gurava party, especially the more radical end of the party.   In local politics, he called for state ownership of industry and clashed intensely with the Hansa as well as Ravenheart.  

Political Career

 

Presidential Run

Primaries

In 2600, the then relatively unknown Payden threw his proverbial hat in the ring in theGurava primaries. His effortless charm and ability to connect with party members caught the eye of Finn Knottman, who threw his weight behind him.   The primaries were not smooth sailing however. The career politician wing of the party rallied behind Mathilda Tremont, and the two were deadlocked. A deal was eventually made and Payden was chosen as the party's presidential nominee, with Tremont as his running mate.  

Campaign

The 2600 Republic Election was a very crowded affair. While many of the candidates sought the light of the press and large events, Payden led a more grassroots campaign, meeting people in their places of work and generally seeking to be a man of the people. He agreed to a joint list with the Social Democratic Party, led by Governor Walt Schilling, and this "Progressive Alliance" gave his campaign another boost.   Governor Schilling made it to the second round and Payden urged his voters to back him. In a surprising turn, Captain Cavatt Malouf, who had led a strange insurgent campaign of his own, backed Payden in the GA after a promise was made to "not back down when the Dhau come." This final boost meant Gurava ended the race with the 4th largest share in the GA, just above Ravenheart.   Pundits were hugely impressed with Payden Hickcock, who went from political unknown to national figure in less than six months. He was one of the most personally popular candidates in the election.   While he avoided making a public statement about the subject, in private, he was very critical of the Schilling administration and their apparent willingness to continue fighting the Dhau War.

Governor of St Lawrence

Campaign

There were rumours circulating after 2600 that Payden would return to his home world of St Lawrence to run for the governorship. Encouraged by Finn Knottman, Payden did return to politics in 2610 to run against Hannibal Stokes (RHC), brother of the presidential nominee Hercules Stokes.   Payden has seemingly not lost his ability to connect with people. Tough attacks were lobbed both sides and both parties recieved support from allied parties, but in the end Payden emerged on top, with 47% of the vote.

First term

Payden's first term was heavily disrupted by violent insurrection. The Long Striders insurgency was spiralling out of control, so Payden agreed to the deployment of a contingent of marines from Tyr to restore order.   Just as the Long Striders crisis was coming to an end, the Burning Crusade erupted accross the Republic, with a massive effort seemingly attempting to capture Arcadia, the holy Valtanist city. First Ranger Frederick Sondeheim offered to deploy the Valtinist Rangers to defend the holy city. Coordinating with St Lawrence law enforcement, they repealed the Burning Crusade. A ceasefire was reached on St Lawrence between Burning Path and the Rangers after talks that took place in Arcadia City. Payden praised the leadership of the Rangers but also gave credit for the Burning Path leadership for "Being willing to consider a path of action that will save lives."   Around 10,000 people have been killed, with another 20,000 wounded in the five year conflict that began after Priestess Brionne Elazar's call to arms.   Aside from law enforcement affairs, Payden focused a lot of his efforts on improving the lives of his constituents. Educational grants were rolled out for the less fortunate families and a planet wide health service free to the point of use was founded.  

Independant Re-election

When Gurava merged with the SDP in the leadup to the 2620 Republic Election, Payden declared he would run again but as an independant. He said that whilst he would be on "friendly terms with the SDP", he was unable to formally join the party. He endorsed Julianna Knottman for the presidency and was seen campaigning with her brother Finn.   His main adversary in his reelection campaign was Charis Moreland, running with the local Alexandran Party. In the first few months of the campaign, the new independant Payden found himself without the financial support he had in the past, unlike Charis Moreland, scion of one of the wealthiest families of the Republic. In the press, one shell shocked campaign operative for Governor Payden Hickcock (IND), who asked to remain anonymous said "We cannot hope to compete with the wealth of House Moreland here. They are just drowning the airwaves out in their cash."   A concerted effort by progressive parties came to his rescue, endorsing him for the governorship and campaigning with him. This put the incumbent governor back into competition. This prompted efforts by House Moreland in return.   After it was appealed to them, the Supreme Court ruled that the spending by the Alexandran Party, as an affiliate to the Imperial Party, should be counted as part of their combined total. This slowed down the Moreland influx of money into the campaign.   A wave of "off world" cash was funneled to St Lawrence and into Payden's campaign. This ultimately helped propel the Governor to re-election in what had become the most expensive race of the election cycle.  

2nd Term