William Harvey

[Meeker]

Curious about this fellow. Ran for President in 1932 on his self-founded Liberty Party ticket (which seems to be rooted in some of his wacky bimetallism ideas).

0.13% nationwide.

4.93% in Washington. (57% of all votes nationwide)
2.52% in Idaho.

20.96% in Thurston County, Washington.
20.46% in Clallam County, Washington.
17.30% in Mason County, Washington.
14.99% in Cowlitz County, Washington.
14.78% in Lewis County, Washington.

10.52% in Gem County, Idaho.
7.74% in Canyon County, Idaho.
6.91% in Kootenai County, Idaho.
5.94% in Payette County, Idaho.

The distribution of votes was relatively uniform in Idaho (with the notable exceptions mentioned above), but in Washington he pulled 15-20% in many Olympic Peninsula and Southwestern counties while getting low single digits virtually everywhere else.

The man has no connection to Washington State (or Idaho) as best I can tell.

So what gives?

[Meeker]

Bump?

[Meeker]

The coinage debate and even populism were pretty much dead as topics by 1932 though. It also doesn't really explain the lack of consistency in his results across the region (or state).

I think I'll contact some sort of history professor at one of the local universities and see if they know anything more.

[Meeker]

Finally figured this out. The Liberty Party's gubernatorial candidate was a Methodist minister from Kelso named L.C. Hicks. He actively campaigned in Southwest Washington and did pretty well for a third-party candidate (6.8% statewide). His strength carried upwards to the Presidential ticket, even though Harvey made no effort to campaign in the state.

http://olyblog.net/ungovernor-1932-luvern-clyde-hicks