The 1924 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1924. Republican Party of Minnesota candidate Theodore Christianson defeated Farmer–Labor Party challenger Floyd B. Olson.
Republican primary Incumbent Republican J.A.O. Preus did not run for a third term, and had no chosen successor.
Candidates
Nominated Theodore Christianson, state representative
Eliminated in primary Franklin Ellsworth, former member of the United States House of Representatives Ole P.B. (O.P.B.) Jacobson, Minnesota railroad and warehouse commissioner Curtis M. Johnson, president of the State Agricultural Society George E. Leach, mayor of Minneapolis Julius A. Schmahl, former Minnesota secretary of state Thomas Vollum
Farmer-Labor primary The Farmer-Labor Party was divided between the Progressive faction and the Communist faction, colloquially referred to as the "Red" faction. The nomination's winner, Floyd B. Olson, was a member of the Progressive faction.
Candidates
Nominated Floyd B. Olson, county attorney of Hennepin County
Eliminated in primary Tom E. Davis, former mayor of Marshall Louis A. Fritsche, mayor of New Ulm Victor Lawson, mayor of Willmar William Royster, locomotive engineer William Schaper, former political science professor at the University of Minnesota
Democratic primary Lambrecht withdrew from the race on May 14, 1924, to save the state the money that would be needed for a primary election. Avery became the unanimous nominee by default.
Candidates
Nominated Carlos Avery, former mayor of Hutchinson
Withdrawn Michael Lambrecht, pacifist and wallpaper hanger
Candidates Oscar R. Anderson (Industrial) Carlos Avery, former mayor of Hutchinson (Democratic) Theodore Christianson, state representative (Republican) Michael Ferch, bank president (Prohibition) Floyd B. Olson, county attorney of Hennepin County (Farmer-Labor)
Campaigns Christianson officially opened his campaign on September 20. He received endorsements from incumbent governor J.A.O. Preus and Representative Thomas D. Schall. Christianson's campaign was focused on "No compromise with Socialism in any of its disguises." He believed that the Farmer-Labor policies of state-owned railroads and utilities would bring the country into debt. Instead, he proposed that the state's finances should be redirected to funding education. Christianson was the first gubernatorial candidate to campaign towards women, speaking at local women's Republican gatherings.
Olson and the Farmer-Labor party as a whole were branded as "socialist and radical" by Republican journalists.
Olson attacked Christianson on his tax and financial policy. Christianson campaigned on the slogan of "More Ted, less taxes". Olson argued that as a member of the legislature, Christianson was partially responsible for the taxes he was now campaigning against, and had proposed no actual plan to financially restructure the state other than lowering taxes. Olson focused on internal changes to be made to the state, such as advocating for the elimination of the position of surveyor general of logs and state timber agent, as the duties of both were already supposed to be carried out by the attorney general.
Democratic nominee Carlos Avery dismissed the Farmer-Labor party as a party of "misguided fledglings." He positioned himself as a reformer, hoping to be an alternative for progressive voters put off by the socialist factions of the Farmer-Labor party. Avery campaigned on an extensive policy of limited government and internal reform, a strong environmentalist policy (including supporting a state constitutional amendment mandating that forests could not be cleared for farmland) a massive irrigation effort for agriculture, new funding for highways and public transportation, and the expansion of welfare.
Results
See also List of Minnesota gubernatorial elections
References
External links Minnesota Historical Election Archive