

Back in October, we brought you the story of Colleen Lachowicz, a candidate for the Main State Senate who was attacked in flyers distributed by her state's Republican party because she's an avid World of Warcraft player. Now, the results of the election are in, and despite gamer status (and an attempt by Stephen Colbert to ward her off with Sting, an Orc-bane sword forged by the elves of Gondoin) Lachowicz and, one assumes, Santiaga the Orc Assassination Rogue have won their election.

And whats' more, not only did the campaign to discredit her with the knowledge that she spent untold hours backstabbing rivals in Azeroth fail to keep her from getting elected, it might've actually helped. As reported by the Bangor Daily News, the WoW-based attack on Lachowicz ended up having the opposite effect that it intended. After it made national news, Warcraft players from all across the country came together to raise over $6,000 for her campaign, and that's not even counting the amount of gold pieces and stat-increasing magic rings that were undoubtedly given to her Orcish counterpart. It actually ended up being so much of a spike in her funds that the local GOP called for an investigation, which was quickly and decisively dismissed by the Maine Ethics Commission.

Just goes to show you, calling out ten million people with enough disposable income to keep Blizzard's servers firing for being aimless, violence-obsessed louts probably isn't going to win you a whole lot of friends, no matter how true that statement may be.

Of course, now that the campaign has essentially been won on the basis of World of Warcraft, it's hard not to speculate on how this might shape policy over the course of Lachowicz's term. Could we see a push for legalized Roguery? An initiative to make sure all giant beetles are carrying salable rings? An official pardon for all crimes committed by the Lich King? Only time will tell.