The Baker Who Ran for Mayor
Seattle's Populist Party convention devolves into 12 hours of bickering before selecting a German baker to lead their ticket.
After twelve hours of picayune bickering over trivialities and thirteen long-drawn-out ballots, the Populists succeeded in nominating A. W. Piper, the German baker, for mayor. The convention was beset by Democratic heelers seeking to have Dr. J. Eugene Jordan nominated, but the Populists were determined to stay in the middle of the road. When the convention was called to order by L. M. Robbins, there were about 200 delegates present. The proceedings were marked by constant parliamentary maneuvering and heated disputes over single-tax resolutions. After many candidates failed to secure the necessary votes, Piper emerged as the choice, touted by his supporters as a reformer not beholden to political machines. Piper, who came to Seattle in 1877, was known as a man of artistic talents, having once made plaster busts of famous characters.
“If we can do nothing better than wrangle over little picayune questions we had better go home and quit politics altogether.”
The Populist platform of 1894—calling for city ownership of electric light, weekly cash wages for laborers, and opposition to licensing prostitution—shows that Seattle's struggle with corporate monopolies and labor rights is a century-old inheritance. The chaos of their convention also reflects the recurring volatility of grassroots third-party movements attempting to gain a foothold in Seattle's entrenched political landscape.
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