I got the Election victory on my second playthrough, which suggests that it is a much easier game than LLTQ.
Whereas in the first run I tried to carefully manage relations, I disregarded them completely in the successful run. You are "hostile" towards me? Whatever, you still have a high Skill value, so welcome as my advisor! I also didn't try to find out the electors' allies and rivals. Maybe my advisors hate each other, I don't know, and it didn't seem to have an effect. Overall, I am not sure whether this is as it should be -- it feels strange that I can disregard this mechanic completely and still be successful.
My advisors were Grojdana as Chancellor, Ozara for Economics, Rejt for History, Stoyan for Science (all 75), Sola for Media (70) and Krovos for Spirituality (50), so with the Admiral and the Thresher taking care of Military and Intrigue, only Galactic Relations was lacking and I could focus on my other training. I found Rejt particularly useful for the lore.
I prioritized Interaction and Emotion, with a secondary focus on Spaceships and Big Guns, neglecting almost anything else. This also seems to be a good choice for RP as a successful imperial ruler.
Because I spent the first game on the right side of the map, I went to the lower left first, grabbed a few advisors and finished some easy quests, not bothering to level up for a more difficult one. When I came to Myrkka, almost everyone already pledged their votes for the other guy, so I added Krovos to the council (figured I wouldn't be able to get approval of the good guy) and finished on Heru.
I romanced Jade later on in the game. Was a bit unsure at first, but judging from the epilogue they seem to be a good couple.
My only regret is that I had Krovos on the council. In all other aspects, it was a good run, I think.