Debate Propels Malone into Governor Position

Wants to “restart [education] from the ground up”

By Brody Montgomery

On Tuesday afternoon, Buckeye Boys State (BBS) delegates headed to Millett Arena for the Meet the Candidates Rally. The crowd was engaged in the debate the entire time; they were standing and cheering on countless occasions. Both the Nationalist and the Federalist supporters rallied for their respective sides.

The main focus of the event was the debate between the governor candidates from the Federalist and Nationalist parties. Both spoke with passion and caught the attention of Boy State dele- gates, but no moment seemed more impactful on the voting process than the debate itself.

It is not a question that this is where the election was really decided. Zach King of Stockner city said, “The election was really neck and neck. Both candidates spoke well. I was really persuaded who to vote for in the final minutes.”

Ethan Knotts of Gabel City stated that Aidan Haggard of Estepp City “came off too confident.” Knotts believed that Nathan Malone of Koppin City, the Federalist candidate for gover-

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Continued from Pg. 1 nor, spoke with more charisma and that the Federalist party as a whole showed more expertise in their arguments as the Nationalists seemed “unprepared and lacking in public speaking skills.”

Others believed that the Nationalists were the ones who came out on top in the debate. Hunter Barnett of Wiehe City commended Haggard for his strong arguments and great public speaking.

On top of this, he stated that Haggard appeared to be very knowledgeable about the issues and policies he was concerned with. “Even though the Federalists put up a good fight, I think the Nationalists as a whole won the debate.”

As the crowd left, chants could be heard coming from members of both parties saying, “Don’t stand alone, vote for Malone!” and “Who are we voting for?... Malone!” These chants were combated by slogans in support of Haggard. Once the dust settled, the delegates headed to the polls to cast their votes for all state positions.

After a few hours had passed, the results were in: Malone had won by a sizable margin, and was now the 2023 State Governor for BBS.

Governor-elect Malone had a lot to say about Tuesday’s victory. Although his campaign ended in success, it started off wavering. At the beginning of the week, Malone didn’t know what he wanted to do here at Buckeye Boys State.

After the first couple hours had passed, Malone stated, “I had a vision and I had to go for it.” However, Malone did not know who his running mate would be. He felt that he had to find someone determined while also being someone he worked well with.

That’s the mindset that Malone wants all his fellow delegates to have. As he put it, it's necessary to have the “don’t sell yourself short mindset”.

He decided on Mowia Asham of Koppin City to be his running mate. Malone and Asham would take on the state election along with their fellow Federalist candidates.

Malone said that his ultimate goal as governor is to have a ripple effect on future governors and delegates. He wasn’t sure what that effect would be, but began with the idea of providing fair and equal education to all. Malone wants a complete education reform, looking to “restart from the ground up.”

Malone stated that he wants to stay impartial on what the state elected officials really want to accomplish as a team. He says that although many of those members are from different parties, he can ensure that this would have no effect on the election, as he does not believe in a political divide.

“We need to look past parties and look for what’s better for all of us,” Malone said.

Malone thinks that political divide “falls under a practice of tribalism” and says this political divide is a reason why he ran in the first place. Education is not Malone’s only focus, however. He is also looking to use his office to promote nuclear energy. Malone realizes that this form of energy gets a bad rap due to possible environmental issues, but believes he can address these concerns. He says that nuclear energy in the right form can be one of the cleanest forms of power out of all the different energy sources.

“With modern technology and using materials such as thorium instead of uranium, nuclear energy could possibly be a beneficial factor to our environment” Malone remarked.

He also believes that this could bring an immense amount of jobs back to Ohio which is a main focus to him.

Malone’s campaign being catapulted by his performance at the event shows how important debates can be for getting people elected into offices. The state government opens Wednesday, June 14th and Malone will be at the helm as the top official of Buckeye Boys State. Landon Turner contributed to this story.

Which governor candidate do you think won and why?

Quotes featured on this page were provided by delegates interviewed from both parties immediately after the debate.

By: Haddon Lockyer and Connor Campbell