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Citizens Ticket
The Citizens Ticket of Oregon was a political party in the state of Oregon. The early incarnations of the Citizens Tickers arrose in local elections, eventually spreading to a statewide party. The party elected several members to the Oregon Legislature, but failed to reach higher statewide office. Early Citizens Ticket candidates lacked a cohesive ideology, using the party as a way to challenge the leadership and nominees of the Democratic and Republican parties since nominating conventions were controlled by political bosses.

Early history (1859–1891)
The first reference to a "citizens' ticket" in the digitized newspaper archives of the University of Oregon library was during the 1859 municipal elections in Oregon City, Oregon. The party swept the elections that year winning every elected office over their Republican Party opponents. In 1866, there was a "Citizens' Ticket" nominated in The Dalles. J. R. Ralston was elected Mayor of Oregon city during their 1867 municipal elections. The entire Citizens Ticket was elected in The Dalles during their 1871 municipal elections. During the 1873 municipal elections in Portland and East Portland several members of the Citizens Ticket were elected including Henry Failing, Mayor of Portland and J. S. M. Van Cleve, council member for East Portland. Harrisburg nominated a Citizens Ticket during their 1873 municipal elections.

During the 1880 Eugene municipal elections, the Citizens Ticket defeated the Temperance Ticket in every office, with the exception of city marshall. The Citizens Ticket was organized in Josephine County for the 1880 county elections. In Salem during the 1880 elections, the Citizens Ticket was composed of Democrats and Republicans who were challenging their party's nominees in the general election. The Citizens Ticket elected a council member and the city recorder during the 1881 municipal elections in Eugene. A Citizens Ticket was organized in Corvallis in 1885. In 1888, the entire Citizens Ticket was elected to office in Lebanon. The same thing occured in Silverton in May 1888 as they defeated the entire Prohibition Ticket. T. W. Davenport asserted that the Citizens Ticket in Silverton was complicit in election fraud in a letter to the Evening Capital Journal. Davenport's assertion was called false in another letter to the Evening Capital Journal by J. L Adams. The crux of the Silverton election was whether or not the city should enact prohibition laws, which the Citizens Ticket opposed. The Prohibition Ticket candidates sued the Citizens Ticket candidates in Oregon Circuit Court which called for the elections to be voided and that the Prohibition candidates be installed in their place.

In 1889, a Citizens Ticket was nominated for municipal office in Astoria against a Republican and Democratic ticket. They used a turkey as their mascot in their advertisements that ran in The Daily Morning Astorian. Jefferson elected the entire Citizens Ticket in 1889, led by mayoral candidate B. N. Longsworth. In 1890, the Citizens Ticket nominated candidates for the Corvallis municipal elections. The Citizens Ticket went up against the City Ticket during the 1891 municipal elections in Newberg. The City Ticket, which favored prohibition laws, was victorious on election day.

A Citizens Ticket was organized during the 1891 municipal elections in Portland, composed of Democrats and Republicans who were dissatisfied by their respective party's nominees. The Citizens Ticket candidate for Mayor of Portland, William S. Mason, was victorious during the June election. The Citizens Ticket supported consolidating Portland, East Portland and Albina to one city. The Evening Capital Journal noted that the Citizens Ticket victory in Portland "marked the continued decline of bossism in Oregon". The year of 1891 also saw the Citizens Ticket elected in Astoria, The Dalles and Junction. Like many American political parties during the 18th and 19th centuries, the Citizens Ticket of Oregon had support from local newspapers including the Oregon City Enterprise, which often poked fun at their Democratic Party counterparts in their editorals. The State Rights Democrat remarked in 1887 that the Citizens Ticket had no organized party platform.

A statewide movement (1892–19XX)
Coming off the victories of the 1891 municipal elections in several cities including Oregon the citizens ticket continued nominating candidates for public office. Although a non-partisan race, J. F. Osborne's loss in the Portland School District director in May 1892 was a victory for the Republican Party who begrudged Osborne for supporting the Citizens Ticket in 1891. In The Dalles, the Citizens Ticket organized a successful takeover of the city's Republican Party during the 1892 primary elections. Party officials accused the Citizens Ticket of using Democratic party voters to pad their vote total during the primary, a charge that was refuted by The Dalles Times-Mountaineer. St. Helens nominated a Citizen Ticket in 1892, although the The Oregon Mist noted that all the candidates were ideologically similar regardless of party.

The Citizens Ticket were again victorious in the 1892 Portland municipal elections as their candidate for police commissioner, D. Solis Cohen and their candidate for fire commissioner, Theodore Wygant, defeated their Republican opponents. The State Rights Democrat described the Citizens Ticket in Portland as, "a fusion made between Democrats and a better class of Republicans". As a result of the election, Police Commissioner Cohen re-organized the Portland Police Bureau, naming E. W. Spencer Chief of Police, and Benjamin L. Norman as captain. C. H. Woodward was the first member of the Citizens Ticket elected the the Oregon Legislature. He was elected to the Oregon State Senate in June 1892 representing the 23$rd$ District, which was in Multnomah County.

Following a re-count, Joseph Hughes, Citizens Ticket candidate for coroner of Portland, was declared the winner of the June 1892 election, which originally went to the Rufus C. Holman, who Hughes accused of tampering with the vote. The presiding judge in the case, Erasmus D. Shattuck, determined that Holeman did not act inappropriately and dismissed the fraud charges. A Citizens Ticket was organized for the Salem municipal election in 1892. The Republican Party argued that a vote for the Citizens Ticket would help the Democrats as it would split the Republican vote. A Citizens Ticket was organized in Condon during the town's first municipal elections in 1893. Falls City organized a Citizens Ticket for the 1893 municipal elections.

The Citizens Ticket did not nominate candidates for the 1893 Portland municipal elections. The Daily Morning Astorian pondered the reason for this was a lack of contentious issues between the Democratic and Republican parties. The Dalles elected the entire Citizens Ticket from the office of mayor to water commissioner during the town's 1893 municipal elections. The Citizens Ticket organized in Oregon City for the purposes on nominating candidates for the 1893 municipal elections. Citizens Tickers were fielded in several municipal elections in 1893, including Astoria, Lebanon, Oregon City and Toledo. In 1894, Citizens Tickets were organized in Brownsville and Hood River. On January 8, 1895 the Citizens Ticket was elected during the municipal election in Arlington, led by mayoral candidate L. C. Edwards. Joseph DeWitt Matlock, a candidate on the Citizens Ticket, was elected Mayor of Eugene on April 1, 1895.