Weldon Holt

Weldon Holt, nicknamed "Rhyne's Bulldog", is an important political figure of Night City in.

Biography
Weldon Holt served as Deputy Mayor under Mayor Lucius Rhyne until the latter's tragic death in 2077 due to a reported cardiac implant malfunction. Holt took on the role of acting mayor and announced that he would run for the mayor's office against Councilman Jefferson Peralez in Rhyne's stead. Commentators and Holt himself observed that he shared many of Rhyne's corporation-friendly political stances and would be more or less a continuation of Rhyne's administration.

Secretly, Holt was aware of the true nature of Rhyne's death: a virus-spiked braindance had killed the late mayor while he was visiting the invitation-only sex club Red Queen's Race. The staff of the club messaged Holt when they found Rhyne dead in his private room, and Holt sent Detective Harold Han to secure the corpse and cover up the incident to preserve Rhyne's reputation, which would prevent any blowback from affecting Holt's own ambitions. He then hired the Animals to wreck the club, but failed to pay them in a timely fashion, causing them to linger at the club long enough for V, who had been hired by Peralez to look into Rhyne's demise, to arrive and uncover evidence of Holt's involvement in the cover up.

According to investigative journalist Max Jones, Holt was in Arasaka's pocket. Some of Holt's associates also spoke of him receiving permission for some of his campaign tactics from "those above him". During the campaign, when Holt and Peralez were polling neck and neck, Holt asked a media he knew, Julia Bonet, to seduce Ivan Vassiliev, the pro-Peralez president of Rancho Coronado Workers United, in order to destroy his reputation and prevent him from whipping his thousands of union members to vote for Peralez. Holt's dirty tricks did not dampen Peralez's support, and he started trailing in the polls as election day neared.

In the end, Holt lost the election and Peralez became the next mayor of Night City.

Database Entry

 * Lucius Rhyne's successor and current mayor of Night City. He's a seasoned political player who had been eyeing the mayoral position for years - before it was abruptly handed down to him after Rhyne's tragic death. Holt knows exactly which strings to pull in this city and which ones to leave to the corps. Like his predecessor, Weldon Holt not only signs deals with corporate execs, but doesn't mind tossing in a few favors - generous tax breaks, anyone? Sure, it gets him a lot of political flak, but he's convinced that's just the way it's done in Night City.

Associated Quests

 * The Heist (briefly)
 * I Fought the Law