1912 Colorado gubernatorial election

none related races 1912 United States gubernatorial elections January 2025 September 2023 1912 Colorado gubernatorial election Colorado 1911 presidential 1912 11 8 no 1910 Colorado gubernatorial election 1910 1914 Colorado gubernatorial election 1914 Elias_Ammons.gif 150x150px Elias M. Ammons Democratic Party (United States) 114,044 42.91% Senator_Edward_Prentiss_Costigan.jpg Progressive Edward P. Costigan 66,132 24.88% File:Clifford C. Clark.png Republican Party (United States) Clifford C. Parks 63,061 23.73% Socialist Party of America Charles A. Ashelstrom 16,189 6.09% File:1912 Colorado gubernatorial election results map by county.svg 250px County results Ammons: #d3e7ff 30–40% #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% Parks: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% Governor John F. Shafroth Democratic Party (United States) Elias M. Ammons Democratic Party (United States) The 1912 Colorado gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1912. Democratic state Senator Elias M. Ammons defeated the Progressive, Republican and Socialist candidates future Senator Edward P. Costigan, Clifford C. Parks and Charles A. Ashelstrom with 42.91% of the vote. Background In 1910, incumbent Democratic Governor John F. Shafroth had won reelection by a 51–43 margin against Republican State Senator John B. Stephen. Shafroth two terms in office were defined by his push for progressive reforms. He successfully passed direct primary, recall, home rule and labor control laws against strong opposition of the Democratic machine in Denver and Colorado corporations.Pioneers & Politicians: Colorado Governors in Profile 2008 Lamm Richard D. Fulcrum Publishing In 1912, Shafroth decided against running for another term. Instead, he successfully ran for United States Senator that year. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Republican party was divided into two main wings: the progressives (led by Theodore Roosevelt) and the conservatives (led by William Howard Taft). The rift between the two wings had deepened during Taft's service as 27th President of the United States, prompting former President Roosevelt to run against the incumbent Taft for the Republican nomination in the 1912 United States Presidential Election. Taft won the nomination at the 1912 Republican National Convention in Chicago, causing Roosevelt to found the Progressive Party and run as a third-party candidate. In many other national and state elections in the year 1912, candidates ran against the Democratic and Republican nominees under Roosevelt's "Progressive" or "Bull Mouse" Banner. In Colorado, Edward P. Costigan quickly emerged as the leader of the new Progressive Party and was chosen by the party to contest the gubernatorial race.The Gospel of Progressivism 2011 Laugen R. Todd University Press of Colorado Democratic primary State Senator Elias M. Ammons was able to win the Democratic primary on September 10, 1912, against former Attorney General Joseph H. Maupin and Colorado State Penitentiary Warden Thomas J. Tynan. Ammons had positioned himself as a moderate reformer, who strongly opposed Roosevelt's conservation policies. Candidates Nominated Elias M. Ammons, State SenatorState of Colorado. Abstract of Votes Cast at the Primary Election held on the Tenth Day of September, A.D. 1912 and the General Election held on Fifth Day of November, A.D. 1912 https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/Results/Abstract/pdf/1900-1999/1912AbstractBook.pdf 1913 Pearce James B. Secretary of State of Colorado Eliminated in the primary Joseph H. Maupin, former Attorney General (1890–1892) Thomas J. Tynan, Colorado State Penitentiary Warden Results Democratic primary results Elias M. Ammons Democratic Party (United States) 29,349 45.10 Thomas J. Tynan Democratic Party (United States) 21,037 32.33 Joseph H. Maupin Democratic Party (United States) 14,686 22.57 65,072 100.0 Republican primary Former State Auditor Clifford C. Parks was able to win the Republican primary on September 10, 1912, against attorney Philip B. Stewart. The Republican primary was shaped by the divide between "regular" Republicans which supported President Taft and "progressive" Republicans which supported former President Roosevelt. In July 1912, the progressive candidate Stewart had been asked by fellow Roosevelt supporters to leave the Republican Party and join the Progressive Party. He declined and instead ran as a Roosevelt supporter in the Republican primary.Philip Stewart and Followers Refuse to Join Third Party Newspapers.com 29 November 2019 https://www.newspapers.com/image/543220029/ St. Louis Post-Dispatch 4 July 1912 Stewart lead the race in early returns which lead multiple newspaper to call him the apparent winner.Philip B. Stewart gets nominated for governor Newspapers.com 29 November 2019 https://www.newspapers.com/image/543220029/ The Times (Streator) 11 September 1912 After all votes were counted, Clifford C. Parks was declared as the winner. Philip Stewart did not support the Republican ticket in the general election,No promise yet from Progressives Newspapers.com 29 November 2019 https://www.newspapers.com/image/588211698/ The Fort Collins Express 12 September 1912 and ran as a Presidential elector for Teddy Roosevelt in the 1912 presidential election.Stewart to Run as T.R. Elector Newspapers.com 29 November 2019 https://www.newspapers.com/image/588212165/?terms=philip%2Bstewart%2Bammons The Fort Collins Express 26 September 1912 Candidates Nominated Clifford C. Parks, former Auditor of the State (1894–1896) Eliminated in the primary Philip B. Stewart, Attorney Presidents and Speakers of the Colorado General Assembly https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2016_presidents_and_speakers_biographies_juanita_updated_170213.pdf 2016 Colorado General Assembly Results Republican primary results Clifford C. Parks Republican Party (United States) 21,247 53.22 Philip B. Stewart Republican Party (United States) 18,676 46.78 39,923 100.0 General Election Results Colorado gubernatorial election, 1912Colorado gubernatorial election, 1912 https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=264804 Elias M. Ammons Democratic Party (United States) #3333FF 109,825 42.91% Edward P. Costigan Progressive #B63434 66,132 24.88% Clifford C. Parks Republican #FF0000 63,061 23.73% Charles A. Ashelstrom Socialist #8B0000 16,189 6.09% John Henry Ketchum Prohibition #FF00FF 5,900 2.22% Jonathan U. Billings Socialist Labour #000000 460 0.17% 261,567 100% Aftermath Elias M. Ammons was sworn in as the 19th Governor of Colorado in Denver on January 14, 1913. In the 1912 Colorado House of Representatives and Colorado Senate elections the Democrats won a 48-17 and 24–11 majority in the 19th General Assembly, respectively. The Colorado State Government was therefore dominated by Democrats during Ammons' term from 1913 to 1915. Ammons and the Democrats' legislative proposals would be overshadowed by the Colorado Coalfield War, which climaxed in the 1914 Ludlow Massacre. Ammons was the commander-in-chief of the Colorado National Guard, that caused the massacre by attacking the tent city called Ludlow Colony. The strike caused between 69 and 199 deaths.http://www.du.edu/ludlow/cfhist3.html Colorado Coal Field War Projecthttp://www.sangres.com/history/coalfieldwar01.htm The Colorado Coalfield War After the massacre, Governor Ammons was torn between the interests of the striking miners, which had political support by some Democrats like State Senator Helen Ring Robinson,Pat Pascoe Helen Ring Robinson https://books.google.com/books?id=ose9AwAAQBAJ&q=Wolcott&pg=PP19 November 1, 2011 University Press of Colorado 978-1-4571-1167-9 multiple PTs and the mine owners under the leadership of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and decided to request the deployment of federal troops to calm the violent clashes. Andrews Thomas G. Killing for Coal: America's Deadliest Labor War September 2010 Harvard University Press Cambridge, MA 978-0-674-04691-7 After massive criticism and nationwide outrage, Ammons decided to not run for reelection in the 1914 Colorado gubernatorial election and subsequently retired from public life. References Category:1912 Colorado elections 1912 Colorado