Luminan state election, 2072

A state election was held on Saturday, 28 May 2072 to elect the members of the 18th Parliament of Lumina. The incumbent second-term centre-right Craftian Reform Party government, led by Premier Erika Nguyen, tied with the opposition centre-left Mojang Democratic Party, led by Opposition Leader Luke Simpson, with 8 seats each. Reform as able to form a minority coalition government with the Liberal Party of Craftia and the support of the National United Party, Craftian Conservative Party and Craftian Greens.

The incumbent government, consisting of a coalition between the Reform and Liberal parties, had remained relatively united against an opposition suffering from serious policy disagreements. The election campaign was dominated by the rise of the left-wing populist Lumina First, which advocated for Luminan independence and reached a peak of 20 percent in state polling by 2071, and was polling third by election day. Other major issues included the state's faltering healthcare system, environmental issues, the high unemployment rate and rising ethnic tensions.

On election day, Mojang edged out the Reform government in terms of the popular vote but both parties finished with eight seats. Mojang faced a significant challenge in its rural strongholds from Lumina First, which gained two seats on a swing of almost 8 percent. All parties represented in parliament agreed to keep Lumina First out of any coalition agreements due to its perceived extremism.

Six months following this election, the coalition agreement between Reform and the Liberals broke down, and the Nguyen Government was defeated on the floor of the house. The MDP was able to form a new government with the support of the Liberals, United and the Greens.

Party lists
Elected candidates are in bold.

Background
The Reform Party had governed Lumina since the 2066 state election, in which it gained a substantial swing to defeat the Mojang Democratic Party. In 2069, Reform under Erika Nguyen retained government albeit with a heavier negative swing than usual for a first-term government. Successive broken election promises and cancelled infrastructure projects began to eat away at Reform's support base, especially in the rural areas where the MDP was usually dominant. Following the 2069 election, and with the state's debt ballooning, the CRP embarked on a social reform plan, while cutting services and welfare programs. This helped to curb stalling popular opinion on the Nguyen Government. Towards the middle of the term, the MDP opposition fractured into left and right factions over handling the rise of the left-wing populist Lumina First Party, which threatened Mojang's hold on the rural vote. The Reform government generally maintained a healthy lead in the polls during this period.

By mid-2071, the MDP began to coalesce around non-aligned leader Luke Simpson and moved to differentiate itself from Lumina First. Voter anger over Lumina's failing healthcare system, with ever-increasing waiting times and bureaucratic failures involving patient care, led to a noticeable drop in Reform's polling, and Mojang regained the lead by October. At this point, the initial Lumina First wave had receded. By 2072, the two major parties were neck-and-neck.