Wonder
James Wonder | |
---|---|
Member of the U.S. Senate from Dixie | |
Assumed office July 13, 2021 | |
Preceded by | Lukas |
House Minority Leader | |
In office March 13, 2021 – July 13,2021 | |
Preceded by | Sysadmin |
Succeeded by | Pepper Potts |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Dixie | |
In office January 14, 2021 – July 13, 2021 | |
Preceded by | Jeb! |
Succeeded by | Miguel |
Constituency | 4th District (133rd Congress- 136th Congress) |
39th United States Secretary of Defense | |
In office May 6, 2021 – July 13, 2021 | |
Preceded by | Victoria |
Succeeded by | Bacon |
Deputy White House Chief of Staff | |
In office March 12, 2021 – July 15, 2021 | |
President | Christian Bo |
Preceded by | Bruce Hill |
Member of the Dixie General Assembly | |
In office December 8, 2020 – July 13, 2021 | |
Preceded by | Jess Reed |
Constituency | 5th District (16th Assembly- 20th Assembly) |
Speaker of the Dixie General Assembly | |
In office June 10, 2021 – July 13, 2021 | |
Preceded by | Victoria |
Succeeded by | Bacon |
Dixie Secretary of State | |
In office May 23, 2021 – June 10, 2021 | |
Preceded by | Jibble Shucker |
Succeeded by | Charles Bacon |
Dixie Secretary of Education | |
In office November 22, 2020 – January 28, 2021 | |
Preceded by | Soren Dillinger |
Succeeded by | Charles Bacon |
Federal Chair of the Libertarian-Republican Party | |
In office May 15, 2021 – July 11, 2021 | |
Preceded by | Howard Elkridge |
Succeeded by | Bo |
Personal Details | |
Born | Nashville, Tennessee |
Political party | Libertarian-Republican Party |
Education | College of William and Mary |
James Earl Wonder is an American politician who is the U.S. representative for Dixie's 4th congressional District. A Libertarian-Republican, he also serves in the Dixie State Assembly, and as Deputy White House Chief of Staff and Secretary of Defense in the Bo Administration. He is the Speaker of the Dixie Assembly. He has consistently been elected in landslides and has been an effective legislator while in his positions.
Early Life
Wonder was born January 4th, 1983 in Nashville, Tennessee (Now Dixie) to Tiberius Wonder Jr., a Professor at Nashville State Community College, and Gloria Etemo-Wonder, a 5th Grade Elementary School Teacher in Nashville. Wonder spent much of his childhood studying and partaking in school debates. He attended the College of William and Mary where he got an undergraduate degree in Education. After being unable to find work he took a job teaching 1st graders from very rural areas with high poverty rates. He taught there for several years before working his way up to become Superintendent of the Metro Nashville Public Schools.
Political Career
Dixie State Cabinet
Wonder first became interested in politics when offered the position of Secretary of Education by Governor Drunk in which Wonder accepted. He was confirmed in a 7-0 vote by the Dixie General Assembly and got to work immediately on working with legislators to produce legislation on School issues, such as bus safety, wake-up times, and other things. These actions helped bring Wonder to the state spotlight and encouraged him to run for office.
Dixie General Assembly
Elections
December
Wonder first ran for the Dixie General Assembly in the December midterm elections. After winning the primary unopposed he faced Representative Moonguy. His race brought large media attention and was regarded as a tight race between the two candidates. Wonder managed to win in a landslide taking 81.48% of the vote.
February
In his re-election Wonder faced what would be one of the toughest opponents he had faced. Bruce Hill was a strong candidate who many expected to win based on the high number of support for left-leaning candidates across the State at that time and key endorsements for him. Wonder managed to be re-elected closely taking 51.03% of the vote.
April
Wonder was unopposed in his re-election to a third term. As the highest-ranking Libertarian-Republican many thought he could face a strong challenger but none appeared. Wonder won re-election with 82.92% of the vote with the rest going to write-ins.
June
Wonder was unopposed in his re-election taking 78.69% with the rest going to write-ins.
Tenure
In his first term, Wonder proposed the Dixie Safety Sports Act which mandated public schools teach about school safety when playing sports. He was an avid legislator who got a lot of support from both sides of the aisle for much of his legislation. He proceeded to move on from educational issues to environmentalists, proposing the Dixie Water Cleanup Act. The legislation was lauded for its strict fines on corporations that refused to clean up spilled pollution in waterways throughout Dixie. Many constituents wrote to Wonder asking for him to do something about public park access for children and Wonder listened. He proposed the Dixie Park Act which made all-state parklands free of charge for those in certain grades of public school, veterans, and the elderly. Wonder held high regard for the first term he held especially when tragedy struck during the Nashville Bombing. To help those affected by the bombing he authorized a commission that helped investigate the findings of the attack and actions to prevent further. As the Assembly session came to a close he ensured friendships with members of all parties including Future President Bo, Malcolm, and Miguel.
In his second term, he was the only Libertarian-Republican Party in the entire Assembly after his party was wiped in general elections. He comprised and worked well with his colleagues even though he was in the super minority. He was a key vote in electing the next Speaker of the Assembly which he handed to Soren. He was appointed Speaker Pro Tempore. After receiving reports of gun violence in his district, Wonder took keen action on limiting citizens to brandishing firearms at least 500 feet of public demonstrations. He also recognized the importance of the Greensboro Four in a passed resolution and made Rosa Parks Day an official state holiday. After facing a tough re-election in February, Wonder kept a quieter profile while continuing to legislate and work with his colleagues. Throughout the term, he quietly worked to build back momentum for the right and win back control of the Assembly. During the midterms, he campaigned hard for many candidates running. This helped propel his internal status in the Libertarian-Republican Party which eventually made him Chair of the Party for two months.
He continued by proposing the Jazz resolution which recognized the importance of Jazz in Dixie and made the Secretary of State susceptible to having to run in a Special Election if a vacancy occurred. He proposed the School Water Plan which helped eliminate lead in pipes in Public Schools. To continue his efforts on education he passed the Cyber School Act which helped teach Digital Citizenship to young students in public schools. In his third term, he sought the Speakership as the most senior Libertarian-Republican in the Assembly. He would go on to lose the primary caucus vote to newcomer Victoria. This term was one of the most partisan and divisive issues due to the Speaker which Wonder was opposed to. There were consistent fights in the caucus which led to rifts and divides and many were angry at each other during this session. He became increasingly concerned of the vacancies of the Dixie State Supreme Court which had just impeached and removed its Chief Justice Mike Smith for inactivity. As there were no judges in the entire State Court, Wonder introduced the Judicial Appointments resolution which requested the Governor fill the seats with qualified and impartial nominees as soon as possible. Issues were brought up when he proposed a budget that had many math figures wrong and received a large portion of the blame even though it was at the time Speaker Victoria who wrote it. This left the damaged and Wonder politically weakened which left many concerns for the upcoming Assembly Elections. The right was able to maintain control and successfully fought off a strong challenge after the May budget debacle.
In his fourth and final term, he was elected Speaker of the Dixie Assembly where he sought a more bi-partisan Assembly and not to repeat the divisive acts of the previous term. He became a leader in a push for a smaller government by passing key reforms such as the income tax removal. He faced a tough battle passing a budget but was able to do so. His budget was vetoed by the Governor Drunk and the State went into shutdown before the Libertarian-Republican Party passed a continuing resolution. He resigned his Assembly Seat halfway through his term due to his election to the United States Senate.
House of Representatives
Elections
January
Wonder originally faced an opponent but they dropped out in the middle of the race allowing him to win unopposed. He won 86.55% of the vote with the rest going to independents.
March
For his second term, Wonder faced former Representative Kev but Kev was largely absent from the race, basically allowing Wonder to be unopposed. He won around 90% of the vote.
May
Wonder was unopposed in the race for his third term. He garnered around 68% of the vote. The key reason the vote for him was so low as an unopposed candidate was due to the allegations coming out of the State budget he proposed having wrong numbers in them and hurt the Libertarian-Republicans in Dixie.
Tenure
After Wonder’s election to the House of Representatives, he was a member of a 4 person caucus which at the time was not enough to gain a minority status. The left decided to split their membership which allowed for Social Democratic Party and the Global Labour Party to have Majority/Minority Status. Many Libertarian-Republicans were upset with this action, including Wonder. Being in a super minority was very difficult especially when extreme actions like the Federal Government Shutdown of February 2021 happened. He was elected to be head of the Liberty Caucus and remained as the highest-ranking Libertarian-Republican Party member in the house. From his first days, he wrote the Penny Provisions Removal Act which would have removed the penny from circulation and stopped its production. The bill was defeated in committee. He then proceeded to write the Better Highway Infrastructure Act with Howard Elkridge, which helped restore bridges and roads that have fallen out of shape. As the term went on many members left the caucus to join the left as the party became stronger, leaving Wonder in a larger minority than he started. This term was largely shaped around the left growing evermore angry with President Sandoval and it led to the Federal Shutdown which brought Wonder into the spotlight as the only member of the Libertarian-Republican Party in the House of Representatives. He gave a strong defense in the House of the President's veto of the left-wing budget and called to an end for the political games. This helped result in a political victory for the right which helped them gain seats and win the Presidency again.
The Libertarian-Republicans made large gains to the House of Representatives in March following the coattails of Bo win in the United States presidential election, March 2021. They gained enough seats to allow Wonder to become House Minority Leader and have a large influence over the passage of bills and committee makeups. He worked with President Bo to propose the April Budget which brought large changes to Healthcare reform and taxes. He also helped write the Territorial Tax Exemption Act. The largest accomplishment of his second term was the COVID Mental Health Act which established networks for those affected and needed mental health help. A few in his caucus found his leadership lackluster early on due to being behind on introducing legislation which was quickly fought back against. He was a key spokesman for President Bo in the house and helped solidify his base as a strong right-wing reformer. Many scandals plagued the left during this time period and allowed for Wonder to captivate on them and gain seats in the House through special elections and develop a strong right-wing base in the North which was originally left-leaning. The switch from left to right in several strongholds helped them gain mandates in passing right-wing. Wonder, who was in the Executive of the Libertarian-Republican Party helped oversee policy changes which made the party more big tent.
In his third and final term, Wonder was re-elected as House Minority Leader in an extremely contentious House Session where Majority was decided by one seat. In this term, he largely delegated certain responsibilities of political actions to other members of leadership. He once again remained a key partner to President Bo’s agenda and helped push the very large minority to vote on his bills and pass them. He helped write along with the Administration the Juneteenth federal holiday bill which passed unanimously. He also proposed several reforms in President Bo’s final budget which passed and was widely seen to be the next Speaker of the House if his party took control in the next session. Wonder declined to seek a fourth term and ran for the United States Senate, which he won.
Senate
Wonder swore into the Senate and was elected President Pro Tempore. He co-sponsored numerous bills and started pushing for right-wing agendas in the Senate.
Political Beliefs
Wonder is known as a moderate Libertarian-Republican who is more left-leaning on certain social issues. This has helped him with certain voters on the left which may have helped him win re-election in several of his close races.
Personal Life
Wonder is married to his wife Melvakia, and together they have six children. Ivana, James Jr, Erica, Tiffa, Barron, and Omarosa Ludacris (O.L.). Wonder has a private residence in Nashville and a home in Hilton Head, South Carolina where he resides during the Summer recess. He also had a distant uncle who worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a Professor.
Honors
Electoral History
Dixie General Assembly
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
LP | Wonder | 81.48 | +81.48 | ||
UL | Moonguy | 17.04 | +17.04 | ||
Independent | Poliman | 1.48 | +1.48 | ||
LP gain from UL |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
LP | Wonder | 51.03 | -30.45 | ||
SDP | Bruce Hill | 48.97 | +48.97 | ||
LP hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
LP | Wonder | 82.92 | +30.89 | ||
Independent | Write in | 17.08 | +17.08 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
LP | Wonder | 78.69 | -4.23 | ||
Independent | Write in | 21.30 | +21.30 |
House of Representatives
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
LP | Wonder | 6,957,004 | 86.55 | +4.6 | |
Other | Write-Ins | 1,081,129 | 13.45 | +13.45 | |
LP gain from GLP |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
LP | Wonder | 7,280,949 | 90.58 | +3.45 | |
UL | Kevin | 757,193 | 9.42 | -9.42 | |
LP hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
LP | Wonder | 10,938,558 | 68.07 | -22.51 | |
Other | Write-Ins | 5,127,464 | 31.92 | +22.45 | |
LP gain from GLP |
Senate
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
LP | Wonder | 84.44 | +16.37 | ||
Other | Write-Ins | 15.53 | -52.54 | ||
LP gain from GLP |