1893 San Diego mayoral election

The 1893 San Diego mayoral election was held on April 4, 1893 to elect the mayor for San Diego. William H. Carlson was elected Mayor with a plurality of the votes.

1893 San Diego mayoral election

April 4, 1893

Nominee William H. Carlson Adolph Gassen Party Independent Republican Popular vote 1,219 614 Percentage 46.8% 23.6%   Nominee A.E. Cochran John Kastle Party Democratic People's Popular vote 465 210 Percentage 17.8% 8.1%

Mayor before election Matthew Sherman Republican Elected Mayor William H. Carlson Independent

Candidates

• William H. Carlson, real estate developer[1]
• A.E. Cochran, lawyer[1][2]
• James Friend, newspaper writer[1]
• Adolph Gassen, former city marshal[1]
• John Kastle, real estate developer[1][3]

Campaign

The 1893 election featured a field of five candidates. The Democrats, Republicans, and the People's Party each fielded one candidate. In addition to the regular parties, two independents also ran.[1]

Many of the candidates had long roots in the City of San Diego prior to the election. Adolph Gassen had previously held other elected office within the City. John Kastle of the People's Party had previously served as president of the Chamber of Commerce. A.E. Cochran had been active in Democratic Party.[1]

Independent candidate William H. Carlson campaigned vigorously, making numerous extravagant campaign promises, including electric car lines on every street, luxury hotels, steamship lines to every port on earth, transcontinental railroads, and jobs with high wages for all.[1]

On April 4, 1893, Carlson was elected mayor with a plurality of 46.8 percent of the vote, nearly twice as many votes as his closest competitor.[4]

Election results

San Diego mayoral election, 1893[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	William H. Carlson	1,219	46.8
	Republican	Adolph Gassen	614	23.6
	Democratic	A.E. Cochran	465	17.8
	People's	John Kastle	210	8.1
	Independent	James Friend	98	3.8
Total votes			2,606	100

References

1. Smythe, William Ellsworth (1908). History of San Diego, 1542-1908. San Diego: The History Company. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
2. Monteith, J. C. Monteith's Directory of San Diego and Vicinity for 1889-1890. Рипол Классик. ISBN 9785872729938. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
3. Guinn, James Miller (1907). A History of California and an Extended History of Its Southern Coast Counties: Also Containing Biographies of Well-known Citizens of the Past and Present. Historic Record Company. p. 548. Retrieved March 18, 2017. colonel john kastle.
4. "Election History - Mayor of San Diego" (PDF). City of San Diego. Retrieved March 18, 2017.