The 1909 Los Angeles mayoral special election took place on March 26, 1909, following the

recall Recall may refer to: * Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop * Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure * ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted language learning * Recall (memory) * ''Recall'' (Overwatch ...

attempt of incumbent

Arthur Cyprian Harper Arthur Cyprian Harper (1866–1948) was the 26th Mayor of Los Angeles, California, from December 13, 1906, to March 11, 1909. He was forced to resign in the wake of a recall drive due to dishonesty that marked his administration. While mayo ...

. George Alexander was elected over Fred C. Wheeler by a small plurality. It was the first election "ever held in any American city for the recall of a mayor.""Los Angeles In Quandary"
''Des Moines Evening Tribune,'' March 15, 1909, image 3. It was also the first election held after the charter amendment that instituted nonpartisan elections and made the office of Mayor nonpartisan.

Background

Facing a recall election, incumbent Democratic mayor

was forced to resign due to dishonesty that marked his administration. Because of his resignation,

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

politician William Stephens, who had been picked as Harper's opponent, was named acting mayor of Los Angeles while campaigning was going on, which lasted less than two weeks. Two candidates participated, Republican candidate George Alexander and

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

politician Fred C. Wheeler. Wheeler had been denied ballot access because his candidacy had allegedly not followed regulations of the city before the ruling was overturned by a judicial appeal. Wheeler lost to George Alexander by a small plurality of 1,650 votes, with the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

reporting that the vote for Wheeler was a "great surprise"."He has figured in politics before, making a fine run during the last mayoralty campaign in Los Angeles." "Socialists Talk to a Big Crowd"
''Bakersfield Californian,'' October 17, 1910, image 4. Alexander filled the unexpired term of Harper, which lasted until November 1909.

Results

References and footnotes

External links

Office of the City Clerk, City of Los Angeles
{{DEFAULTSORT:1909 03 Los Angeles mayoral election 1909 March 1909 California elections

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

1900s in Los Angeles