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The Western States Presidential Election of 1930, the 1st WS presidential election, took place on October 11, 1930. Charles Curtis ran largely unopposed and took 70.3% of the vote to win on the first round, becoming the 1st President of the Western States.
Background[]
This was the first presidential election for the newly formed Western States of America, a breakaway group of US states that seceded from the Union at the start of the Second American Revolution. Unlike the old United States presidential election system, it was decided that Western States presidential elections would be decided by a national popular vote, with no electoral college. In addition, if no candidate won a majority of votes (50%+1) in the first round, there would be a second round runoff pitting the two highest finishers against each other.
For the first round of elections in the WSA, it was prohibited for any candidate to run under the banner of a political party, so each candidate was officially nonpartisan and not nominated by any group. This made the first presidential election essentially a free-for-all, where any candidate could run independently. In the months leading up to the election, support slowly coalesced around a few high profile candidates. The first of these was Hiram Johnson, the famous progressive who was seen as one of the nation's founders. However, Johnson publicly denied any interest in running, instead aiming to win a seat in the WS Senate. George W. Norris of Nebraska was the next popular progressive choice, but he, too, decided to focus on running for senate. One candidate who had no such plans was Charles Curtis, longtime US senator from Kansas. Curtis was an essential factor in convincing Kansas's government to defect to the Western Pact during the Revolution and went on to become a prominent voice at the country's constitutional convention. He was known as a conservative but also as a compromiser who could work with everyone. This, combined with his old age (and relative lack of political future), made him an acceptable choice to conservatives and progressives alike, and soon he became the clear frontrunner as prominent politicians from all over the political spectrum endorsed him. In some states, he was the only candidate on the ballot on election day. Curtis looked to build on the compromiser reputation with his choice of running mate, who ended up being the progressive former-Democrat George Dern, Governor of Utah. Dern agreed be Curtis's running mate as he did not have an upcoming gubernatorial election, and so would be guaranteed to have a job win or lose.
Socialism was naturally not looked upon fondly in the Western States, which had seceded in order to avoid socialist-related violence. That did not prevent them from running a campaign in this election, as they asked famous author Upton Sinclair to run. He was officially nonpartisan, not endorsed by any political association, but secretly he was supported by the Socialist Party of the West and the government of the USCA.
The Campaign[]
The campaign was calm and unnoteworthy, taking a backseat to the more competitive local elections that would form the backbone of the new federal government. Curtis's poll numbers steadily increased as no popular candidate rose up to face him. The man himself did not do much campaigning, content to let the results play out however they would- he would be equally happy if he won and became president or if he lost and was allowed to retire from politics. This nonchalant attitude probably helped to boost his campaign, as voters saw him as a responsible man who was not overly ambitious and could steadily steer the ship of the new nation.
Sinclair was the only candidate to do any real campaigning, making stops all over the country to speak to people about his vision. He was not received well in some places, as it was no secret he had socialist leanings, but other places welcomed him, as there were still pockets of socialist support in the WSA, notably in the Dakotas, Nevada, and New Mexico.
Though Hiram Johnson had repeatedly denied interest in running for president, some of his more enthusiastic supporters put together a campaign on his behalf anyway, hoping to see a progressive in office as the first president rather than the conservative Curtis. Their draft effort was most effective in California, Johnson's home state, but they were able to attract support from all over the country. Johnson did not encourage or discourage their efforts, content like Curtis to let the results play out however they may. The campaign was complicated by the fact that Johnson had not registered to run in any state, so he would have to be a write-in for anyone looking to cast a vote in his name.
Results and Aftermath[]
Curtis won very easily, taking over 70% of the vote and becoming the first president. The write-in campaign for Johnson did rather well, as he took nearly 20% of the nationwide vote, as well as over 36% in California. The senator saw this as a very encouraging sign for his planned actual presidential run in 1933. Sinclair won over 5%, certainly a respectable number for someone claiming to be a socialist in the increasingly anti-leftist west. His best result was in North Dakota, where he took 17% of the vote. Sinclair would soon leave the Western States to return to the USCA and his state of birth, Maryland, eager to participate in the forging of a new socialist society.
The Great Depression affected the WSA just as it affected almost every other country on the planet, and so President Curtis had a full agenda on his plate right from the start. The first WS Congress had a majority of progressive members who aimed to quickly pass legislation that would help mitigate the effects of the crisis. While the president lived up to his reputation of cross-party negotiation during this time, he did veto several bills which he thought went too far, hoping to negotiate them down to terms acceptable to him and other conservatives. About half of the relief legislation passed by Congress were signed into law in some form, although many in significantly reduced forms compared to the originally proposed bills. Frustration quickly built among the progressive congressmen, who started to regret their decision to let the 1930 presidential election pass without much of a fight. In 1933, at the start of the second congress, the restriction on political parties was officially lifted, and politicians quickly moved to join the political organizations which had already been put together in some form. Curtis joined the Conservative Party and surprised some by announcing his bid for reelection, while the Progressives and Liberals prepared to face him in the 1933 election.
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