The People's Choice Reflections of the Political Process

In MHS Collections

SO FAR in the political process Minnesota has not con­tributed one of its own to the United States presidency — but it has had no lack of capable and willing candi­dates. In some memorable election years, more than one candidate from the state has openly aspired to that high office. But perhaps more important, Minnesota has produced noteworthy public figures in other offices and also political movements "whose national influence has been out of all proportion to the state's age and popula­tion," according to Russell W. Fridley. Minnesotans are typically in the thick of things politically.

The state's traditions of grass roots participation and generally honest politics have elicited favorable (and sometimes astonished) comments from national ob­servers. These traditions date from the early incorpora­tion ofthe area. The people xvho founded the Minnesota Historical Society in 1849 were in the political activist mold and helped perpetuate that attitude. As public fife participants they early recognized the importance of pre­serving the papers and records of the individuals and groups involved in politics and govemment.

Much of this material, generated by people and the state machinery, is in the Historical Society's division of archives and manuscripts. By next fall, afl the records in the formerly separate manuscripts division and state ar­chives xvill be consolidated under the direction of State Archivist Lucile M. Kane and under one roof — the MHS Research Center , f500 Mississippi Street, St. Paul.

A presidential election year such as this is a good time to look into at least some ofthe division's holdings. Among them are some basic '"nuts-and-bolts " kinds of records like candidates ' filing and withdrawal state­ments, affidavits of nomination, and certificates of elec­tion. Then there are those that reflect the will of the

70 Minnesota History

people: abstracts of votes in general and primary elec­tions made by the state canvassing board from f858 to f9f8 and abstracts made by county canvassing boards (these include ward and township breakdoxvns) from 1890 to 19.58. And there are records which seem not to have been properly studied but which might yield a gold mine of information — candidates' expense statements from 1898 to 1960. (Later statistics and expense state­ments are in the secretary of state's office.)

Historical Society researchers found much of this ma­terial invaluable recently in compiling a book — a com­pendium of selected Minnesota voting statistics — to be published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press. It will proxdde, for the first time, accurate, county-by-county statistical returns for president, govemor. United States senator, and congressman for every election from 1857 through 1974. It xvfll correct mistakes found in other published works and restore some heretofore neglected third- and fourth-party candidates to the historical record. The book will not analyze state voting patterns or elections; it will give the organized, published, raw statistics from which researchers, historians, and others can extrapolate their own interpretations. (Acknowl­edgment is herewith given to Bruce M. White and Burt Cannon for facts and voting statistics used in this article. White and Eugene D. Becker took the pictures.)

Various other collections of the society include material on elections. Some of it is of a primary source nature, some consists of published xvorks, and some in both original and secondary sources will require a fair amount of digging. The society's library, of course, is usually an initial stop. It contains biographies, general histories, and other works bearing on elections. The newspaper division has the most extensive collection of Minnesota papers to be found anx'xx'bere — virtually all

daily and weekly journals published in the state from 1849 to the present.

The Public Affairs Collection in the division of ar­chives and manuscripts includes papers of many promi­nent public figures in Minnesota, from Alexander Ram­sey to Huber t H. Humphrey. There are also papers from organizations which in one way or another affected or involved elections and campaigns. They range from the Minnesota League of Women Voters to the Socialist

Labor party of Minneapolis. A collection of broadsides also helps give a portrait of past elections. Other hold­ings are three-dimensional items from the museum — campaign and convention buttons and badges, a fexv of which are reproduced here. And the audio-visual library has a large collection of photographs of politicians, cam­paigns, rallies, parades, and other political events.

VIRGINIA L . M A R T I N

REPUBLICAN UNION TiCKET.

For / • , . . . , ^ „ ' .

A - n c l r e \ v . T o l i n s * o n . For MitnU' ••/ r ir--'.-F.'-il Ih^lncl,

WILLIAM WINHOM.

F'or Elrrl,„-,.,J f.e^ifhal.

C. B . L I ^ ' l l ^ L E Y . 1 ' . N. MCTtlXICK. J . a . BFTZ. 1 ,1 '••••'. M t d t F O i i D .

Fur Jiiiljri of III'-. Sii^.ranf C-niri.

Chi«f Jii^Uf. , TliO. ' .n^J W l b S u N , \ <, ,r. U. M.MfLLE.V,

' "(J. M luatiiv. Aasociate.-,

rDitlnrt Jw!jt:,{.U DiJ.irt.)

I.. ICvitliivii.

F. J-: - . I I A M H I F W . CHAltLE- ; l i l ! lS\VuI , l> ,

F-r /!•'/.-tcr nt L>rct>.

JARl^ l • I ; A L • \ W N

For CUHKIIJ Ji'dil'T,

?. s. iiuciv. For Jiid'je oJ J'rubatr,

WARKfclX i 'UWER' l .

FT C'lUHt!/ •l/(r,r»r;,,

"\VM. H, Y.W.E.

For OininJi/ Cornmiatinner, alh District, E . A COREY.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN heads the ticket on this 1864 Republican party ballot for Winona County. Political parties p r in t ed thei r own ballots until the late n ine teenth century when Minnesota adopted a uniform, s t a t e -p r in ted bal lot . Each par ty listed only its own slate of candi­dates. Voters could mark their selec­tions on a combination of ballots if they wished or could write their names on a blank piece of paper.

A n t i - j M o n o p o l y

STATE TICKET. P»r Governor,

ARA KARTON. \ y

For Li'fut'-nant Governor,

EBENEZER AYKES. " >

I'or S''rrc(arii of State,

J O H N ' H. STEVENvS. ^-

For Sfufr Treasurer,

EDWIX W. DIECE. ,-

For Afforxci/ General,

XVILLIAMP. CLOUGH. '

I.E(;l.>H..VTIVi; TICKI .T 3rt U l i t r l c t

/-'('(• R'^pre^riitdl i.c€,

3. N . G K A L l . N G . ; ' : .

"AniendiDciit to section out, of article four, of flu; iruistitiiti'i;], .n'oviiliii;.' for bicnuial Kessiuiis of til',- LiM-isl/cirt:" - YE->,

IGNATIUS D O N N E L L Y h e l p e d found the Anti-Monopoly party in 1873 with support from Grangers around the state. At its convention in Owa tonna on S e p t e m b e r 2, t he party nominated a slate of candidates for state offices consisting of both Democrats and Republicans. Bar­ton, S t evens , and Clough were Democrats; Ayers and Dike were Bepublicans.

A reform group opposed to the corrupt Grant administration then in power formed the Liberal Republi­cans, xvho met later with the Demo­crats. Both factions simply endorsed the Anti-Monopoly slate. The regu­lar Republicans nominated Cushman K. Davis, who heat Barton 40,633 votes to 35,144. Liberal Repub­licanism was a national movement at this time: Horace Greeley, the Lili-eral Republican candidate in 1872, was also endorsed by the Demo­crats.

EepiicaD f l e l HAYES and WHEELER.

For l*rcsi<lcii(iul Klootors. C. K. DAVIS, S T E P H E N MILLER, A. J. EDGERTON, A. K. FINSETH, HANS MATTSON.

For Congress—Third J^istrict. WM. W. McNAIR.

F o r S t a t e S e n a t e — 3 9 t h D i s t r i c t

KNUTE NKLSON. F o r R e p r e s e n t a t i v e ,

c. y\ SIMS.

tloimty Ticket.

F o r C o u n t y A u d i t o r , FRED. VOiV liAUMBACH.

F o r T r e a s u r e r ,

HENKTK. WHITE. F o r R e g i s t e r o f D e e d s ,

A, J. AMES. For Judge of Probate, W. J. SHELDON.

F o r C o u n t y A t t o r n e y , N . B . PTJLMER.

F o r Sheriff, FRANK KETNOLDS.

For Surveyor, CHARLES T E N G W A L L :

For Coroner, DR. G. VrVLAN.

For Coun^ CommisGioner District.

MINNESOTANS' "fierce independ­ence" in voting habits has a long and respectable, if at times chaotic, his­tory. The Republican party ticket for f876 lists Democra t William W. McNair as the party 's choice for third district congressman. Many Republicans in Hennepin County re­fused to support the regular candi­date, J. H. Stexvart. Some were dis­a p p o i n t e d Scandinavians who wanted Knute Nelson (he xvas nomi­nated for s ta te senator instead); others opposed him because be xx'as from St. Paul — another skirmish in the rivalry between the Txvin Cities. There were only three congressional d i s t r ic t s at this t i m e , and Min­neapolis and St. Paul xvere in the same one. Stewart xvon the election 22,823 votes to 20,717, even though McNair carried both Hennepin and Ramsey counties.

Summer 1976 71

STATE BALLOT.

GOTerner—IGNATIUS DONNELLY—PeoplcB Party

Governor—DANIEL W. LA-WLER-Dpmocrat

Governor—-WILLIAM J. DEAN—Prohibition

Qovemoi^KNtJTE NELSON—Republican.

Govemer—

Lieutenant Governoi -S-W.AN NELSON-Peoples Party

Lieutenant Governor—H. H. HAWKINS—Democrat

Lieutenant Govemor—OLE KUON—Proliibition

Lieutenant Govemor—DA-TID M. CLOUGH-Republican

Lieutenant Governor—

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THE AUSTRALIAN ballot was adopted in Minnesota in the larger cities in 1889 and in the rest of the state in 1891. For the first time, voters had a ballot listing all candidates. This copy of a ballot was printed and distrib­uted by the Democratic party and marked to show vot­ers where to put their Xs. Instructions at the top were in Swedish, Norwegian, German, and English. With the introduction of the Australian ballot, candidates had to file their candidacy with the secretary of state in order to be placed on the ballot. For the general election, candi­dates had to have been nominated by a convention of delegates representing a political party xvhich had polled at least 1 per cent of the vote cast in the state or district in question in the last election. Candidates for the newly formed political parties could get their names on the ballot by obtaining petitions signed by 1 per cent of the voters in the state or district. The petition for G. W. Bucklin, one of Eugene Debs's presidential electors in 1904, is an example of this.

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Piirlii iiil'l lU imlitirjil /iriliri/ilfji 'tlir •.unif hping fXlireturd III, lllf irnllh "I'lihllr l)irn.Kri.In/,"l. mill llinl „r l.rr,h„pfl,n„f, tn li:vr tl.r n:,i<i^ iif -'i„l O . W . B U C K L J N pruiif.l f,ii Ihf •iffifi.i.l iHilUit luSfthn- irilli thf imlili'-'it ilpniffntiliaii "llUrtir Oirnerslii/i. ' •mil tlir 1,1,1.11 " D E B S " III l"il't lll/ir im pmriilj-jl liy l-'iir, tlir li'iiil n-iiae hrin-S fl'" "'niJinir. nf the r.inrli-.liili ..f <„i.l llililir (l-riii-r'lil/i /'iirti/ fi.r frfK-'lFn-i nf thf I'liilei) Stiilrji.

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THIS GUEST TICKET for the 1896 People's party convention is from the Thomas J. Meighen Papers . M e i g h e n , a son of t he ear l ies t settlers in Forestville, was a hanker, a storekeeper, and active in People's party politics in Fillmore County, as was his uncle William J. Meighen. In 1896 the People's party was allied xvith the Democratic party but held its own convent ion at St. Louis where the Democrat ic candidate, William J. Bryan, was nominated for president. McKinley carried Min­nesota with 193,503 votes to Bryan's 139,736.

72 Minnesota History

S e p t . 1 3 . j-'fir s e u u r a i i i r e , i i s t r a . + . i c i i b e c k s , / < , H . j i j t . 7 . I ' r a v a i i i i ^ a x p e i i ^ e s , w, a. C u i i u t n . A u g u s t . i - ' l i a n ^ 1 e e t , , S e c r e t a r y c i S t a f . e , 0- ' t . i d - 1 4 . . ' ' l l i n i I 6 6 3 ,1 o j r i ; o a : i * i l e s , * o . c c - e n - " i O c t , , do. i:rnj t c I'wc i U r o o r s , | < J< i, H r t e i , O J t . ^ 4 . I ' r i p t o t J a r i t o n , R . H . i a r e u c t . 2 4 . O a m a . ^ e t o W t s t I J u i a t h , O c t . i i t t . S t a i n p e a e n v e i o p t i s . F c a t r i i i « ; e , O u t kJ9. A d y e r t i s i n t f , i r o n " I ' r a d e J o u r a a l , U c t . o l K K.H. , l a r e & H c t e i a t C i o q u e t , Oi - ' t . i)U. A Q i / t s r t i - s 111, " Ma. in t )n ie t , T h e o Wc.i<1 , u U C t . o t t U . K . ^ i ' r a - s s a j e r.i c i r c u i a r s , i - i a rv R i o o a n i s U<J t . oU . ' , b ;Ap res^ i jo . u o t . o i s t , A d v e r t l s l j i v j i u i u f t h d a n n e r , O c t . i>l, A a v e r t i s i n ^ , , 7 , K . -A'cnna , O c t . 0 1 . A a v e r t i s i f i ^ , D u i u * . n , P o s ! t e n , I j c t . a l . F r i n t i a ^ u a r a s , .v ie r r i t t & H e c t o r , O c t . 3 1 . T o d i s t r i b u t i o n c i p e r s r . n ; ^ 1 c a r d s , A s k O c t . 6 i . 'i'o | ) o s t a , ' e , O c t . J V . To u i & t r i u u n i n i o i c a r d s , O d e ^ a r d , O c t . 1 4 . r ' c r c o p y i n i p e l i - l i ; ^ t s ,W . 8 . i-ioer , N o v . o t n , News I T l u a i i e , p r l u t i n g n o t i c e . N o / . V t n . D u i u t i i S A a u d l a a v , a d v e r t m i n ^ ' , N o v . d t t t . i ^ e a c h e y fc l i o u i i s o u r y , p r i n t i n i i c a r d s , N o v . o t h . S e i p e i & H u n t l e y , p r i n t i n ^ c a r d s , a r i d

c i r c u l a r s o n a / c rt.E. r .4cEwen, N o v . 1 4 t n . J . J . i^e I ' o u r i i e a u , p r i n t i n g c a r d s ,

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EX PEN DI TURES. DATE

190

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P r i n t i n g

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MINNESOTA passed a corrupt practices act in 1895 amidst a national movement to reform campaign prac­tices. Minnesota's law limited the amount of money can­didates could spend as well as the kind of expenses en­gendered. Every candidate for elective office had to file a statement of expense with the secretary of state, '"setting forth in detail all sums of money contributed, disbursed, expended or promised by him." Since 1895 these provi­sions have been considerably expanded and revised to take into account changing circumstances and now seek to define fair campaign practices rather than corrupt practices only, but candidates must still file a statement of expenditures. Here are examples of such statements. One is by John B. Bichards (top), candidate in 1902 for

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eleventh judicial district judge (he lost); one by Lyndon H. Smith, candidate for lieutenant governor in 1898 (he won); and one filed by I. Oden Halden, candidate for state auditor in 1906 (he lost). Cigars were apparently a major item for some candidates. There was a lot of varia­tion in degree of itemization. A candidate would occa­sionally claim no receipts or expenditures. An eloquent statement came from Lionel C. Long, who xvrote in a letter from Magnolia in 1898 that "my campaign as can­didate for Governor on the mid road Populist ticket did not cost me one cent, either in goods, chattels or nioney; and I further state that if my friends incured [.sic] any expense in my behatf during the aforesaid campaign, I am totally and wholly unaxvare of the fact. " He lost.

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GROVEB CLEVELAND'S f884 victory over the "plumed knight" — James G. Blaine — was celebrated in Minneapolis' Bridge Square, even though Blaine carried Minnesota f I I ,819 votes to 70,135. The campaign, according to Allan Nevins, xx'as "one of the most vituperative in history. "

LINCOLN items are among the ear­liest campaign badges and buttons in the MHS museum. The xvhite silk campaign badge with its romanti­cized portrait of Lincoln looking like a Italian poet could date from the 1860 campaign.

A.B.IlMCOi.N.

Summer 1976 73

;V. K. MKUHIAM

I THE MAN

WHO GETS THE VOTES

ST. PAUL, MINN. MAY 14, 1908

MINNESOTANS represented in the campaign items collection include William B. Merriam, a Republican, who was elected governor in 1888, and John A. Johnson, who, although a Democrat in the strongly Republican state, was elected three times. He died in office in 1909. Many thought the popular politician might have been the next president.

THIS MOOSE election pin marked its wearer as a sup­porter of Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive party candi­dacy in 1912. The name "Bull Moose" was a tribute to Roosevelt who often used the term to describe his own strength and vigor. The Progressives had seceded from the regular-organization Republicans following the re-nomination of President William H. Taft. Roosevelt lost the election, but he carried Minnesota, 125,999 votes to Woodrow Wilson's 106,431, Taft's 64,342, and Eugene Debs's 27,505. Debs was Public Ownership party candi­date. After Charles Evans Hughes was nominated in 1916, most of the Progressives were reunited with the Republican party. Hughes carried Minnesota in the 1916 election, but just barely — 179,544 votes to Wilson's 179,155.

MINNEAPOLIS was host to the Republican national convention in

1892 at xvhich Benjamin Harrison was nominated

the party's presidential candidate. Once again

the Bepublican candidate won the state — 122,766

votes to Cleveland's 101,055 — but failed

to carry the nation.

MfaMki

PEOPLE still remember Alfred M. Landon's sunflower campaign but­tons using the state flower of his native Kansas. This 4'A-by-5-inch meta l p la te fas tened to the license plate of a car. The cheerful yellow buttons were about the only bright spots in the 1936 Republican campaign. W h e n the votes were counted, the results in Minnesota w e r e 698 ,901 for F rank l in D. Roosevelt, 350,461 for Landon, and 74,296 for William Lemke, Union party candidate.

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