Shauna Lultquist, a member of the Libertarian House of Zamah S'tan who served as the youngest elected Speaker of the Chamber from 1994-96 at the age of 23, announced her candidacy for President of Zamastan.
Lultquist, the first black woman to enter the 2020 presidential race, the first black woman to run for President, and the first black Speaker of the Chamber, made the announcement at a South Tofino park to a group of enthusiastic onlookers. She simultaneously released a video teasing the formal start of her campaign at a rally this Sunday in Providence, Lultquist’s birthplace and the city that cultivated her political rise.
"The Zamastanian public wants a fighter, and they want someone that's going to fight like heck for them and not fight based on self-interest, and I'm prepared to do that,” Lultquist said Wednesday morning.
Lultquist will base her campaign in Providence, with a second office in Arinals, according to her aides. The bi-metropolitan arrangement gives them a foothold in two diverse cities and will allow the campaign to be close to Tofino where it can be on the Western time zone.
Among her first decisions will be to reject corporate money and super donation activity, the aides said. The question has become an early litmus test for what’s expected to eventually be a sprawling field with a record number of women. President Anya Bishop is already running for re-election, and Conservative Capitalist Senator Lacy Brennan is working with an exploratory committee. Other women, including Conservative Capitalist Sen. Parris Lu, could also jump in.
Lultquist also counts a trio of family members among her closest confidants: Her husband, Monneet, an attorney whom she married in 2000; her sister, Patricia, and her brother in law, Yeold. Lultquist’s announcement on Tomias Hapson day was steeped in symbolism: Hapson was the first President of Zamastan and, to this day, the only black person elected President. Her aides said the purple-and-yellow color scheme for Lultquist’s campaign logo was inspired by former Elene Abotsford, whose 1972 run for president was the first by a woman from a major political party, as well as the first and only Libertarian elected President. Lultquist’s video outlines the theme of her candidacy: “For the People.”
“Truth. Justice. Decency. Equality. Freedom. Democracy. These aren’t just words. They’re the values we as Zamastanian's cherish. And they’re all on the line now,” Lultquist, a 48-year-old Libertarian, says in the direct-to-camera video. “The future of our country depends on you and millions of others lifting our voices to fight for our Zamastanian values.
“That’s why I’m running for President. I’m running to lift those voices. To bring our voices together.”