An open U.S. Senate seat in the Headwaters State, decided by ranked choice. Four candidates on one ballot. Voters rank them in order, and when the last-place candidate is eliminated their votes transfer to the next choice. You will manage one campaign through to the count.
The Headwaters State runs its Senate race the way Alaska does: one nonpartisan ballot, and voters rank the four candidates in order. Each round the last-place finisher is eliminated and their votes pass to the next choice, until someone clears fifty percent.
So you win two ways at once. A deep first-choice base survives the cuts; broad second-choice support wins the final. Loud base, no reach, and you stall short. Everyone's second but no one's first, and you get squeezed out early.
These four are on the ballot. You manage one; the other three become your rivals. Each has a base, a reach, and a different way of getting squeezed. Pick the campaign you want to run.
Three others are on the ballot with you. Before you spend a dollar, take the measure of them: where each is strong, where they are exposed, and, the thing that wins ranked races, where their voters go when they are eliminated.
This is your prep time. Each move is one week: court a group for its endorsement, propose an alliance with a rival, or run a fundraising push. You only get four, so you cannot chase everyone. What you bank here is your starting strength for the campaign.
Each group is warmer or colder based on where you landed on the issues. Court the warm ones, or gamble a week on a long shot.
The whole state votes now, and it votes in order. You get three moves a phase. Build first choices to survive the early rounds, and win the second choices you will need in the final. Watch the projected count shift as you and your rivals move.
The polls have closed. First choices come in first, and in a ranked race that is only the opening round. Watch the transfers decide it.