The Republican Machine Sweeps Seattle
Byron Phelps wins the mayoral race in a landslide as the city undergoes a political shift.
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.
The triumph of the people is complete. The entire Republican ticket is elected by an overwhelming majority. The result is a stinging rebuke to incompetency and extravagance and no less emphatic a retort upon those who sought to take from the people the sovereign right of selection. Hon. Byron Phelps, with six tickets in the field, has a majority overall. The town went wild last night; bands of men paraded the streets cheering, fireworks were exploded at the principal corners, and such scenes of rejoicing were presented as rarely distinguish a merely municipal election. Byron Phelps will begin his duties as mayor on the 10th instant.
“The triumph of the people is complete. They have demonstrated once again—as they always will—that they are fully qualified to select their own officeholders.”
This 1894 election reflects a recurring cycle in Seattle politics: the push for 'good government' and fiscal conservatism against the perceived corruption of established party machines. Then, as now, the city's growth and identity are often tied up in these aggressive, high-stakes municipal turnovers.
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