Spokane Delegation Breaks for John B. Allen
A legislative stalemate over the election of John B. Allen reveals fractures in the Spokane delegation and a bitter feud between political factions.
The story, cleaned up
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The first break was made in Spokane's solid phalanx today: they captured Ludden. He was a willing captive. In strong, ringing, earnest speech, which left no doubt that his conscience was right even though his judgment erred, he stated the reasons why he believed it his duty as a Republican to delay no longer in doing his part toward ending the deadlock and bringing to pass what he regarded as an inevitable end to be desired, the election of John B. Allen. Mr. Ludden's speech was, of course, received with tremendous cheers by the Allen men. But the Spokane forces, although Ludden's defection was hardly expected today, did not flinch; they simply closed up, filled the breach left by Ludden and once more formed a solid phalanx of seven, all for George Turner. Turner even breathed a sigh of relief. He is for an eternal deadlock, if necessary to beat Allen.
“He is for an eternal deadlock, if necessary to beat Allen.”
Political deadlocks in Olympia are a recurring feature of Washington's history, often rooted in regional friction between Spokane and the Puget Sound. This 1893 battle over a U.S. Senate seat highlights the intense, sometimes personal, nature of legislative power struggles that still echo in modern statehouse dynamics.
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