Republican Defectors in Duwamish
A political primary in the Duwamish precinct saw a surprising shift, with voters rejecting a Garfield endorsement in a vote that signaled growing political friction in 1880 Seattle.
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.
At a Republican primary held for the precinct of Duwamish on the 7th, for the purpose of electing delegates to the Republican County Convention, a resolution endorsing Garfield was defeated by a vote of 20 to 9—a majority of 11 against Garfield in a meeting composed exclusively of citizens who had heretofore acted with the Republican party. Our Republican contemporary publishes this fact with the comment: 'Rather queer Republicans grow in Duwamish precinct.' We have heard the opinion expressed by intelligent citizens that a test vote on the Presidential question, if taken at the Republican primary recently held in this city, would have developed a result similar to that at the Duwamish meeting.
“Rather queer Republicans grow in Duwamish precinct.”
The 'Duwamish precinct' meeting highlights how Seattle's political landscape has long been defined by shifting allegiances and local dissatisfaction with national platforms. The 1880 debate over Republican leadership mirrors the persistent, uneasy coalitions that continue to define the city's civic discourse today.
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