The Most Hard-Fought City Election in Yakima History
A three-way contest between the Citizens’, Taxpayers’, and Knights of Labor tickets reshapes the city council.
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.
Never since the memorable election in 1886, when T. J. V. Clark was chosen mayor over the late George W. Goodwin, was there such a hard fought battle for control of the city government as on Monday last. There were three tickets in the field: the Citizen’s, Taxpayer’s and Knights of Labor. R. K. Nichols was nominated by the citizens and endorsed by the tax-payers, while Dr. J. Jay Chambers was the labor candidate. Immediately after nominations were made, it was the general belief that Mr. Nichols would have a walk-over, but with the claim that he was actively working against the tax-payer’s ticket, a revolution of feeling took place, and many transferred their support to Dr. Chambers. The sewerage question, the matter of high and low license for saloons, and appointments were all factors in the result. The successful candidates are R. K. Nichols, mayor, and Matt Bartholet, J. J. Carpenter, W. A. Cox, Alex. Miller, J. H. Needham, John Reed, and H. L. Tucker, councilmen.
“Immediately after the nominations were made it was the general belief that Mr. Nichols would have a walk-over, but... a revolution of feeling took place.”
Local municipal elections remain the primary battleground for civic priorities, from infrastructure like sewer systems to debates over business licensing. Even in 1891, Yakima voters were deeply sensitive to the perception of candidates hedging their bets between competing interest groups.
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