Seattle Teamsters Pick Their Own Candidate for Police Chief
At Yesler's Hall, licensed teamsters organized a labor ticket for the 1884 city election.
Pursuant to a public call signed by a number of licensed teamsters, a meeting of the teamsters of Seattle was held at Yesler's Hall last evening, for the purpose of nominating a candidate for the office of Chief of Police, to be voted for at the city election on the 14th instant. W. H. White was unanimously elected chairman, and John B. Denny secretary. Remarks were made by W. M. White, John T. Jordan and others, after which L. Miller was declared the teamsters' candidate for chief. The meeting adjourned until Friday evening, when a grand ratification will be held.
“A meeting of the teamsters of Seattle was held at Yesler's Hall last evening, for the purpose of nominating a candidate for the office of Chief of Police.”
The teamsters' independent nomination for police chief shows labor already treating city hall as an extension of the workplace. Seattle's unions would go on to shape municipal politics for generations, from police accountability to minimum wage and gig-work rules.
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