Collin Lestrange
| Collin Lestrange | |
|---|---|
 Lestrange in 2016 | |
| 33rd President of Libertas Omnium Maximus | |
| Assumed office January 1, 2025 | |
| Chancellor | Edward Banks |
| Vice President | Veronica Harper |
| Incumbent | January 1, 2025 |
| Preceded by | Lucas Brown |
| Representative of Caporolla | |
| In office December 1, 2016 – December 1, 2020 | |
| Constituency | Westfield Metro. |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 23, 1960 Carrack, Caporolla |
| Political party | Progressives |
| Alma mater | Radnor Stokes University |
| Occupation | Statesman, bureaucrat, academic |
Collin Lestrange (born March 23, 1960) is a Maximusian statesman, bureaucrat, academic, and President of Libertas Omnium Maximus. Before running for public office, Lestrange served as an economic advisor to the Laine administration, and currently serves as a trustee at Radnor Stokes University, his alma mater. Lestrange is considered a moderate within his own party, campaigning on a platform of increasing federal funding to social safety-net programs and addressing growing concerns of political instability abroad. He was elected President on September 7, 2024, and assumed office on January 1, 2025.
Early Life[edit | edit source]
Lestrange was born Collin Cameron Lestrange to Catherine MacDonald and Denis Lestrange on March 23, 1960 in Carrack, Caparolla. He is of Glannish and Arrivée heritage, and is a descendent of Jean-Gerard Fabron, a prominent 19th century Secoteau merchant. Lestrange was educated in the public school system of Caparolla, one of the few future presidents to not attend a prominent private academy, and graduated at the top of his class in 1978. Lestrange took an early interest in politics, and volunteered in Liberal-candidate Robert Boswell's successful 1980 Caporolla gubernatorial campaign. He graduated from Radnor Stokes University with a double-degree in economics and political science in 1981, publishing a postgraduate thesis on Maximusian monetary policy a year later. Between 1983 and 1989, Lestrange worked for the Allen-Bell Company, a political consulting firm. In 1987, Collin Lestrange married Adeline Blair, a staffer for Progressive Gerry Bates, who unsuccessfully ran against Jean Paterson during the 1988 presidential election.
Political Career[edit | edit source]
Despite eventually becoming a prominent forward-facing political figure, Lestrange began his political career, like his wife, as a staff aide, resigning from Allen-Bell to work for George Murdoch, who represented Caporolla as a Progressive in the Senate's Provincial Council until 1996. Murdoch personally recruited Lestrange following the strong recommendation of a mutual acquaintance and the Councilor's personal impression of Collin Lestrange after a chance meeting at a Progressive Party Christmas Gala in December 1989. Lestrange developed an extremely strong relationship with Murdoch and described his time working for the Councilor as "personally transformative" and the "formative experience" of his political career. From 1994 to 1996, Lestrange served as Murdoch's chief of staff.
After Murdoch left office and retired from politics in 1996, Lestrange briefly found himself out of politics, taking work as an adjunct professor at the Public Charter University of Caporolla, where he taught public policy. At the same time, he was recruited to work as a fellow at the Institute for Economic Opportunity, a think-tank focusing on urban revitalization and expanding education opportunities.
Lestrange returned to politics in the early 2000s, working for the presidential campaigns of Benjamin Monroy (2000), and Jason Ward (2004). In 2005, Lestrange became a strategic affairs advisor to Ward, a position he held until 2013, when he was retained by the Laine administration, this time as a senior economic and business affairs advisor to the new president.
General Assembly Seat[edit | edit source]
In 2016, Lestrange successfully ran for a seat on the General Assembly, representing the Westfield District of Caporolla, which includes his home town of Carrack. He ran virtually unopposed in his party primaries, receiving several high profile endorsements and easily winning the nomination to replace retiring incumbent, Sandra Stewart, on the Progressive ticket. He was elected to the seat on September 7, 2016.
During his time on the General Assembly, Lestrange favored protectionism and interventionism abroad, voting in favor of Maximusian involvement in the War in Lauchenoiria. Domestically, he supported increased corporate taxation and increased federal funding for public transportation and higher education. Lestrange, serving on the General Assembly's Economic Development Committee, cosponsored a bill that would have freed up $5 billion in federal funding to construct a high speed train network linking most of the largest Maximusian western metropolitan hubs to the south coast, though the bill was narrowly defeated. Lestrange was successful in securing significant additional funding for the PCU system, both in 2017 and again in 2019.
Presidency[edit | edit source]
In September 2024, Lestrange was elected President, running successfully as the moderate ticket, vowing to increase federal investment in infrastructure, education, and increasing participation in the international democratic community. He took office on January 1, 2025.