First Election in Skagit County
Voters braved the rain to select the new county’s first officials, with eighteen women casting ballots in Laconner.
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 election of officers in the new county of Skagit took place on last Tuesday. As two of the principal candidates—Downs for Auditor and O’Loughlin for Sheriff—had no opposition, together with the fact that it rained most of the day, there was not much enthusiasm, and a light vote was cast throughout the county. At Laconner precinct, 177 votes were cast, some eighteen or twenty ladies voting. The official result has not yet come to hand, but from the most authentic sources we give the result as follows: For Auditor, H. P. Downs, Republican; Sheriff, James O’Loughlin, Democrat; Treasurer, F. D. Cleaves, Democrat; Probate Judge, H. J. White, Republican; School Superintendent, Miss Josie Bradley, Democrat; County Commissioners, Isaac Dunlap, Republican, H. Clothier, Democrat, and John J. Edens, Republican; Surveyor, George Savage, Democrat.
“At Laconner precinct 177 votes were cast, some eighteen or twenty ladies voting.”
In 1884, Washington Territory was a pioneer in granting women the vote, long before the 19th Amendment. The inclusion of women on the Skagit County ballot shows how deeply civic participation was woven into the early identity of the Pacific Northwest, even if the legal right to vote would be revoked by the Territorial Supreme Court just three years later.
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