Clallam County Elected Her. The Court Said a Woman Couldn’t Serve.
Ella Guptill won the race for county school superintendent, but a Port Angeles judge ruled that Washington law barred women from holding office—setting up an appeal.
Port Angeles, Jan. 4.—Special.—Judge McClinton of the superior court of Clallam County virtually decided today that under law women cannot hold office in this state. The case before him was Charles Russell, relator, vs. Ella Guptill. Miss Guptill was elected superintendent of schools in this county in November and received the largest majority of any of the successful candidates. But on the strength of an opinion received from the attorney general, it was decided to contest her election. The result was that today Judge McClinton overruled the demurrer to the complaint, which decides the case so far as the superior court is concerned. Miss Guptill’s attorneys say they will appeal the case to the supreme court.
“Under law women cannot hold office in this state.”
Washington Territory had briefly allowed women to vote in the 1880s, and the fight over whether women could hold office was part of the longer struggle for political representation. Ella Guptill’s case shows how an election victory could be undone by a legal interpretation—a reminder that the right to run for office was not automatic.
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