Digital Bob Archive

Alaska Elections, II. James Wickersham of Fairbanks, former District Judge for the Third Division, won the 1908, 1910 and 1912 Delegate elections, running as an Independent twice and as an Insurgent Republican in 1910. His opponents were registered as Democrat, Regular Republican, Laborite, Socialist and Independent.

In 1912 Congress made Alaska a Territory but made only one change in the election law of 1906. The General Election was moved from the second Tuesday in August to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. When that date rolled around, there were 69 candidates on the ballot throughout the Territory, with 24 to be elected. Neither Republicans nor Democrats fielded a ticket in any of the four Judicial Divisions which constituted the election districts. The tickets on the ballot were Progressive, Non-Partisan, and Socialist. Two individuals filed as Democrats and several as Independents. A majority of those elected, to each house, had filed as Non-Partisans.

The first Territorial Legislature did nothing about the election laws except to extend the franchise to women, but in 1915 a comprehensive bill was passed. Clerks of the District Court were made responsible for running elections instead of City Councils and U.S. Commissioners. Candidates had to file petitions with the Clerk, with 250 voter signatures for Delegate candidates, 100 signatures for legislative candidates. Filing deadline was 75 days before the election, or around the middle of August. The new law also prohibited the sale of liquor on election day, and gave voters two hours off from work to cast their ballots. The ballots were canvassed by the Governor, the Secretary of Alaska and the Collector of Customs.

Only one election was held under the 1915 law. That was in November, 1916, when voters approved prohibition for Alaska, 9052 to 4815. The Delegate race was much closer. Official returns were very slow coming in from outlying precincts, but on March 1, 1917, the Canvassing Board, against the advice of Attorney General George Grigsby, voted two to one to award the election to James Wickersham. He was the incumbent, ran as an Independent and received 6490 votes. Charles A. Sulzer, Territorial Senator and mine owner, received 6459 votes and Lena Morrow Lewis, Socialist, had 1346.

Sulzer appealed to the court and Judge R.W. Jennings tossed out the ballots of six precincts that had failed to use the right ballots. That gave Sulzer the election by 19 votes. He was seated in the House of Representatives when it convened on April 2, 1917, and served most of the term. But Wickersham entered a protest. The House moved slowly but on January 7, 1919, just 55 days before the 65th Congress ended, it threw out Sulzer and gave the seat to Wickersham.

[Next week: Alaska's first Primary Election Law.]