Editing Nicholas Brennan (section)

==2010 Presidential Campaign==
In 2010, with People's Party President Eliot Ganard running for re-election, the Progressives sought a candidate to win the position. After Prime Minister Chen Ting-fei made the surprise announcement that he would not run for the Progressive nomination, Brennan entered a field that included Delegate Matthieu Lu-Rossignol and Representative Marie-Claire Beringer. Campaigning based on his legislative experience, perception of being honorable and fair, and moderate policies, Brennan won the Progressive primary with 58% of all votes cast.

Brennan campaigned hard against Ganard, promising an economic revival and greater regulation of business. Ganard, whose approval ratings had reached near-record lows by summer of 2010, made a notable gaffe on the campaign trail in which he said that the Laeralian economy was "a heck of a machine". Brennan won 38% of the vote in the first round, compared with 32% for Ganard. He defeated Ganard in a landslide in the second round, 60% to 39%, and entered office with great support in the National Assembly. The first Progressive to be elected president since [[Joseph Carlier]]'s 1973-81 tenure, Brennan's victory marked the ascendancy of the Progressives as the prevailing party of the Laeralian left.