Oregon gubernatorial election, 1930

Oregon gubernatorial election, 1930

1926 ← November 4, 1930 → 1934

Nominee Julius Meier Ed F. Murphy Phil Metschan, Jr. Party Independent Democratic Republican Popular vote 135,608 62,434 46,480 Percentage 54.51 25.10 18.83

County results

Governor before election A. W. Norblad Republican Elected Governor Julius Meier Independent

The 1930 Oregon gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1930 to elect the governor of the U.S. state of Oregon. The Oregon Republican Party, at the time dominant in Oregon politics, initially nominated George W. Joseph, but the nominee died prior to the general election. Joseph's law partner Julius Meier entered the race as an independent, and defeated replacement Republican nominee Phil Metschan, Jr., Democrat Ed F. Murphy, and Socialist Albert Scheiff to become the first and only independent politician to be elected Governor of Oregon.

Background and campaign

George W. Joseph won the Republican nomination, but died shortly after. The Republican Party selected Phil Metschan, Jr., son of former Oregon State Treasurer Phil Metschan, as a replacement nominee. Unlike Joseph, Metschan opposed public development of hydroelectric power along the Columbia River.^[1]

With a key platform of Joseph's campaign now directly opposed by the replacement nominee, Julius Meier, Joseph's former law partner, friend, and founder of the Meier and Frank department store, agreed to enter the race as an independent candidate with Joseph's platform. Although opposed by the state's largest newspaper, The Oregonian,^[2] Meier won a resounding victory over Metschan and the Democratic candidate, Ed F. Murphy.^[1][3] Meier's victory was viewed as indicating strong public support for public hydropower development.^[4]

Election results

Oregon gubernatorial election, 1930[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Independent	Julius Meier	135,608	54.51%
	Democratic	Ed F. Murphy	62,434	25.10%
	Republican	Phil Metschan, Jr.	46,480	18.83%
	Socialist	Albert Streiff	3,911	1.57%
		write-ins	2	0.00%
Totals			248,435	100%
	Independent gain from Republican

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Official biography of Julius L. Meier". Oregon State Library. http://www.osl.state.or.us/home/lib/governors/jlm.htm. Retrieved July 8, 2011. 
2. ^ "The Press: Snap the Whip". Time magazine. January 23, 1950. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,858588,00.html. Retrieved July 8, 2011. 
3. ^ "Oregon's Governor-elect carries on for dead friend". The Washington Post. November 30, 1930. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/225490392.html?dids=225490392:225490392&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=NOV+06%2C+1930&author=&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Oregon's+Governor-Elect+Carries+On+for+Dead+Friend&pqatl=google. 
4. ^ Schmidt, Emerson P. (February 1931). "The Movement for Public Ownership of Power in Oregon". The Journal of Land & Public Utility Economics 7 (1): 57. JSTOR 3138633. 
5. ^ "OR Governor Race - Nov 04, 1930". Our Campaigns. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=263016. Retrieved July 8, 2011.