The 'Dude' Who Would Be Governor
Seattle society gossip roils as the city's political elite take aim at Colonel James Hamilton Lewis, a man whose refined dress is branded a disqualifying scandal.
The Slaughter Sun has this to say of the candidacy of Mr. J. H. Lewis for governor: 'It now seems reasonably certain that Colonel James Hamilton Lewis, of Seattle, will be the Democratic nominee for governor this fall. The Sun, however, can scarcely believe that the rank and file of the Democrats of this great state of Washington will place in nomination and attempt to elect to the highest office within the gift of the people a man who prides himself upon being a dude—a masher, as it were. Nearly everybody knows "Dude" Lewis, and whenever he passes along the streets of his home town people turn their heads and crane their necks to get a better look at the man who parts his whiskers in the middle and pays more attention to the "set" of his trousers than any other man in the state of Washington. The Seattle Telegraph, one of the fairest Bourbon papers in the state, does not, we feel certain, favor the candidacy of a dude lawyer for governor. There is other and better timber.'
“Whenever he passes along the streets of his home town people turn their heads and crane their necks to get a better look at the man who parts his whiskers in the middle.”
In 1892, Seattle politics were deeply preoccupied with social performance and masculine presentation. Today's hyper-focus on the 'authenticity' and 'relatability' of political candidates remains a direct descendant of this same anxiety over whether a polished urbanite can truly represent the working class.
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