The 1918 Arizona gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1918, for the post of the

Governor of Arizona A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. Thomas Campbell, who served a partial term in 1917 and had his election overturned by the Supreme Court of Arizona, returned to contest the Governors office. Incumbent Governor

Hunt Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, et ...

declined to run again after the stress of the close elections and the year-long court battle. Despite falling to its lowest percentage in years, the sole third party challenger held the difference between the two candidates. The Democratic challenger was

state senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

Fred T. Colter, a pro-Hunt Democrat. Thomas Campbell was sworn in for his first full term on January 6, 1919.

Democratic primary

Candidates

* Fred Tuttle Colter, State Senator, member of the 1910 Arizona Constitutional Convention. * Fred Sutter, State Senator. Only primary candidate that earned the hostility of Governor George Hunt. * Sidney Preston Osborn, incumbent Secretary of State, future Governor.

Race

In early 1918, Sutter, who was one of two sitting State Senators from Cochise County, was approached by leaders of the Democratic party to consider running in the Democratic primary for the governorship. In February, the other sitting senator from Cochise, C. M. Roberts, announced his intention to run for the Democratic nod for Governor. Sid Osborne also announced his attention to seek the Democratic nomination in February, as did Fred Colter, the state senator from Apache County. Benjamin Baker Moeur announced his intention to run for the Democratic nomination in mid-February. On July 20, 1918, the last day to do so, Colter officially entered the gubernatorial race when he filed his petition with the Arizona Secretary of State. On the final day, Lamar Cobb added his name to the list of Democratic primary candidates, bringing the total to five. In mid-August, in an effort to consolidate the conservative arm of the Democratic party in an attempt to thwart Colter's candidacy, Moeur withdrew from the race, asking his supporters to throw their support behind Osborn. Shortly thereafter, also in August, Cobb also withdrew from the race. This left only three candidates to run in the Democratic primary: Osborn, Sutter and Colter. On September 10, early returns showed Sutter with a slight lead over Colter. With only 29 of 82 statewide precincts counted, Sutter had 772 votes to Colter's 755, with Osborn a distant third with 71. However. by the time 79 precincts had tallied their votes, Colter had pulled into a commanding lead, with the three final precincts to be counted being small. Colter won the Democratic primary in September 1918, garnering 44% of the total votes, 14,539 to Sutter's 10,108 and Osborn's 8,390. In doing so, he won 12 of Arizona's then 14 counties. It was felt that Osborn and Sutter split the anti-Hunt vote, which allowed Colter to win the nomination.

Results

General election

Results

References

Bibliography

External links

Election results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arizona Gubernatorial Election, 1918

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Gubernatorial A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...

November 1918 events