The Woman They Unseated: A Contested Election in Port Angeles
A Populist woman won the county school superintendent's race, a judge ruled her election illegal, and a filing deadline left the door open for her return.
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.
Port Angeles, Jan. 13.—Special.—The bond of A. B. Dorsey, Republican county treasurer-elect, was approved Friday night by the board of county commissioners, and, although a strenuous effort was made by certain taxpayers to have the bond raised from $30,000 to $40,000, it was allowed to remain the smaller sum. The commissioners now have another contest to decide. Miss Ella Guptill, the Populist candidate for county school superintendent, whose election was recently declared illegal owing to the fact that she was a woman, filed her bond, and it was approved by the board previous to the time of the decision rendered by the superior court. A. N. Taylor, the Republican candidate, who was second in the race, has been declared elected by an order issued by Judge McClinton, and he also expects to file his bond by Monday. If the board should not take action in the matter on that day, Mr. Taylor's time in which to qualify will have expired, and an effort will be made to install Miss Guptill.
“An effort will be made to install Miss Guptill.”
In 1895 Washington women could not yet vote in general elections, and a woman who won a county office could be removed on eligibility grounds. The scramble over bonds and deadlines is a reminder that the right to hold office has been contested as fiercely as the right to vote.
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