Looking back at WA’s 1889 fall election
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(Images courtesy of Washington State Archives)
Two big dates for Washingtonians are coming up this fall – the statewide General Election that ends Nov. 4 and our 125th birthday as a state on Nov. 11. Since we often like to blog about history or elections, our State Archives staff once again has come through, retrieving two historical documents from this date 125 years ago that bring elections and statehood together.
On Oct. 1, 1889, voters chose Washington's first elected state officials. Although voters also approved Olympia as the capital, it did not receive a majority of the votes cast. One year later, a second election was held among the top three vote-getters: Ellensburg received 7,722, North Yakima gathered 6,276, and Olympia tallied a whopping 37,413 votes, easily winning the competition for the new state’s capital.
The top image is a proclamation of the 1889 General Election issued by Territorial Gov. Miles Moore. The bottom image shows an abstract of the 1889 election, provided by O.C. White, the last secretary of Washington Territory.
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Secretary of State
Steve Hobbs
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