1930 Oregon gubernatorial election

The 1930 Oregon gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1930 to elect the governor of the U.S. state of Oregon. The Oregon Republican Party, at the time dominant in Oregon politics, initially nominated George W. Joseph, but the nominee died prior to the general election. Joseph's former law partner Julius Meier entered the race as an independent, and defeated replacement Republican nominee Phil Metschan, Jr., Democrat Ed F. Murphy, and Socialist Albert Scheiff to become the first and only independent politician to be elected Governor of Oregon.

1930 Oregon gubernatorial election
November 4, 1930
 
Nominee Julius Meier Ed F. Murphy Phil Metschan Jr.
Party Independent Democratic Republican
Popular vote 135,608 62,434 46,480
Percentage 54.5% 25.1% 18.8%
County results
Governor before election

A. W. Norblad
Republican

 Elected Governor

Julius Meier
Independent

Background and campaign

George W. Joseph won the Republican nomination, but died shortly after. The Republican Party selected Phil Metschan, Jr., son of former Oregon State Treasurer Phil Metschan, as a replacement nominee. Unlike Joseph, Metschan opposed public development of hydroelectric power along the Columbia River.[1]

With a key platform of Joseph's campaign now directly opposed by the replacement nominee, Julius Meier, Joseph's former law partner, friend, and general manager of the Meier and Frank department store, agreed to enter the race as an independent candidate with Joseph's platform. Although opposed by the state's largest newspaper, The Oregonian,[2] Meier won a resounding victory over Metschan and the Democratic candidate, Ed F. Murphy.[1][3] Meier's victory was viewed as indicating strong public support for public hydropower development.[4]

Election results
Oregon gubernatorial election, 1930[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Independent Julius Meier 135,608 54.51
Democratic Ed F. Murphy 62,434 25.10
Republican Phil Metschan Jr. 46,480 18.83
Socialist Albert Streiff 3,911 1.57
write-ins 2 0.00
Total votes 248,435 100
Independent gain from Republican

References
  1. "Official biography of Julius L. Meier". Oregon State Library. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved July 8, 2011.
  2. "The Press: Snap the Whip". Time magazine. January 23, 1950. Retrieved July 8, 2011.
  3. "Oregon's Governor-elect carries on for dead friend". The Washington Post. November 30, 1930.
  4. Schmidt, Emerson P. (February 1931). "The Movement for Public Ownership of Power in Oregon". The Journal of Land & Public Utility Economics. 7 (1): 57. JSTOR 3138633.
  5. "OR Governor Race - Nov 04, 1930". Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 8, 2011.
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