The Wild Primaries of Whitman County
Local republicans staged a high-stakes, chaotic series of caucuses to select delegates for the county convention, with some contests decided by a literal flip of a coin.
The republican primaries held Wednesday throughout the county were in many respects the liveliest in Whitman county politics for many a day. The hottest of the fight was the struggle for the judgeship nomination. Harvey of Pullman, Wilson of Palouse, and Pickrell, Ettinger, Trimble, and Bryant of Colfax are each in the race for the supremacy. In the first ward, sixteen votes were cast; I. B. Harris tied with Howard and Lyons, but was beaten on the flip of a half dollar. The caucuses in the city of Colfax saw high turnouts and intense competition for delegate spots to the upcoming county convention.
“I. B. Harris tied with Howard and Lyons, but was beaten on the flip of a half dollar.”
The frantic, ward-by-ward maneuvering of 1900 reflects a time when party machinery was the only engine for local power. Today, while primaries are standardized by state law, the intense focus on judicial seats remains a critical fault line in local governance.
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