Karolin Piip

Karolin Marie Piip (born December 19, 1969) is the current and 20th President of Balta, first elected in 2018. She is a member of the Balta Social Democratic Party. Before her presidency, Piip represented Latvia's 15th congressional district in the House of Delegates of Balta from 2004 to 2010. In 2010, she was elected to represent that same district in the Senate of Balta.

2004 election
In early 2004, Piip's campaign for the House of Delegates in Latvia's 15th congressional district was announced. The three incumbents at the time (Kazys Palcas, Bethany Haus, and Mykolas Paliakas) were all running for re-election. Palcas and Haus were Democratic-Progressives, while Paliakas was a member of the National Party of Balta.

On August 7, 2004, Piip earned a seat in the House of Delegates after four rounds of tabulation. She received the second-most votes, after Kazys Palcas. Haus and Paliakas both lost re-election. Another freshman social democrat, Tyler Leckus, was elected.

2006 election
On August 5, 2006, Piip was re-elected to the House. This time, she received the most votes. Her colleagues Palcas and Leckus were both re-elected.

2008 election
On August 2, 2008, Piip was re-elected to the House, receiving the most votes. Leckus and Palcas were both re-elected as well.

2010 election
In November 2009, David Merkels (the incumbent senator from Latvia's 15th congressional district) announced that he would not seek re-election in the 2010 race. On January 19, 2010, Karolin Piip announced her candidacy for the Senate. Her colleague, Kazys Palcas, also launched a Senate campaign.

On August 7, 2010, Piip won the Senate election with 52%. She was sworn in on September 1, 2010.

2014 election
On August 2, 2014, Piip won re-election to the Senate. Her competitor, Blake Stalkas, won the first round with 42%, while Piip got 39%. After six rounds of tabulation, Piip won with 51%.

President of Balta (since 2018)
Piip announced her presidential campaign on October 6, 2017. She was seen as an immediate frontrunner. On February 10, 2018, Piip won the Social Democratic primary election with 59%, defeating Delegate Rodney Burgess.

Piip's greatest competition came from Aldons Veiss, a Democratic-Progressive senator who had been endorsed by outgoing President Audrey Buika. On August 4, 2018, Veiss won the first round of tabulation, 48% to Piip's 45%. After four rounds of tabulation, Piip won with 51%.