The Railroad Lobby's Search for a Walla Walla Mayor
Political factions are courting Mayor Gilbert Hunt as a gubernatorial candidate, hoping to leverage his business ties to secure corporate dominance over the state.
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 political correspondent of the Seattle Mail and Herald reports that adherents of Senator Ankeny are pushing Mayor Gilbert Hunt of Walla Walla as a new candidate for the republican nomination for governor. The argument for Hunt is that he is a man of large business interests, has never been compelled to expose his position on railroad and corporation matters, and is popular in his community while remaining satisfactory to the railroad wing of the party. Critics suggest that the machine is planning to re-elect him mayor to give him a boost for the nomination, effectively sidetracking more independent candidates like Jacob Betz. The railroad lobbyists appear determined to control the state, viewing the locality of candidates as secondary to their availability for corporate interests.
“The railroads are determined to maintain control of this state and in carrying out this purpose the question of the locality from which candidates are to be selected is subordinate to the question of availability.”
The suspicion that local municipal power is merely a stepping stone for corporate-aligned candidates to capture state government remains a central anxiety in regional politics. Then, as now, the influence of 'dark money' and industry lobbies on the selection of candidates suggests that residents are often choosing between pre-vetted figures rather than independent voices.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.