The 1892 Election Results: McGraw Triumphs in King County
Early returns confirm a decisive victory for Republican gubernatorial candidate John H. McGraw, as local voters deliver a clear mandate in the state's most populous county.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
King county will give John H. McGraw a plurality of at least 4,000. Forty-four precincts complete and one incomplete in the city, out of forty-five precincts, give him 4,986, Snively 1,814, Young 2,098 and Greene 291. McGraw, therefore, will have a plurality of about 3,200 and a clear majority over all of about 1,000 in Seattle alone. The vote of precincts outside of Seattle will probably increase Mr. McGraw's plurality by 900. The returns are coming in very slowly from the county and even in the city, but the Republican county ticket may be regarded as successful as the state ticket.
“The returns are coming in very slowly from the county and even in the city... the result is that it is exceedingly difficult to compile tabulated statements.”
Election night in 1892 was an agonizing wait for manually tabulated paper ballots delivered from far-flung precincts. While the technology of vote counting has shifted from ledger books to digital systems, the tension of Seattle's county-wide tallies remains a central pillar of Washington's political life.
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