The Battle for Tacoma's Soul
Tacoma’s Republican primaries pit an 'incumbent status quo' against a faction promising an 'open town' policy.
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.
Tacoma Republicans voted yesterday in favor of keeping Mayor L.D. Campbell in office. The issue between the Campbell and Fawcett factions was sharp: citizens casting ballots for Campbell delegates signaled a desire to continue the administration's 'closed town' policy, while Fawcett's supporters stood for an 'open town,' demanding a restoration of the old system of fining fallen women for municipal revenue and an end to the police's aggressive attitude toward anti-gambling laws. Supporters of Fawcett were reportedly handicapped by public resentment toward the Tacoma Railway & Power Company, which was actively working to defeat Campbell. The primary saw record-breaking voter turnout, with party workers going house to house to drag voters to the polls, resulting in an editorial office packed to suffocation as citizens clamored for returns.
“The supporters of Fawcett, on the other hand, stood for an 'open town,' with a restoration of the old system of fining fallen women for the purposes of municipal revenue.”
This 1904 primary battle highlights a recurring tension in Tacoma politics: the tug-of-war between municipal moralizing and the economic reliance on vice revenues. The mention of the 'octopus'—Tacoma Railway & Power—underscores how local corporations have long been viewed as shadowy, unwanted participants in city elections.
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