In many stories about the Wisconsin recall election, we hear that it is only the third recall of a sitting governor. Some will expand on this slightly and include the fact that the other two were Grey Davis in California and a 1921 election in North Dakota.
On this historic day in Wisconsin, I'd like to introduce you to Lynn Frazier, progressive and the first successfully recalled governor in America.
In the first half of the last century, North Dakota was a one-party state. The winner of the Republican primary (for any office) inevitably won the general election in November. Progressives and socialists were well aware of this, and in the nineteen teens they organized a "party" known as the Non-Partisan League. Rather than running candidates on their own slate and facing certain loss in November, the NPL ran candidates in the Republican primary.
In 1916, Lynn Frazier was the NPL candidate for governor. He won the Republican primary and went on to win the general election with 79 percent of the vote. He was reelected in 1918 and 1920. Together with other NPL state officers, Frazier instituted a number of changes in North Dakota that would absolutely stun teabaggers if anyone even suggested them today.
You think Obama is a socialist? Meet Lynn Frazier. When North Dakota's economy was at the mercy of big banks in Minneapolis, Frazier and the NPL came up with a solution based on the only entity that could hope to have sufficient capital to compete with the out-of-state banks -- the state itself. Thus was born the Bank of North Dakota.
When the state's agrarian economy was at the mercy of Minneapolis grain buyers, Frazier and the NPL created the state-owned Mill and Elevator. The NPL successfully amended the state constitution to outlaw corporate farming. Fighting Bob LaFollette must have been green with envy.
The 1920s version of the tea baggers went nuts! Socialism! They forced the recall to "save capitalism." As everyone knows, the recall was successful, and Frazier was recalled in 1921.
But what of his legacy? The Bank of North Dakota exists to this day, and it has helped steward the state's economy through the last few years when every state but North Dakota has been hit by a depression. (Less than 3% unemployment, state budget surpluses, a booming economy while the rest of the nation suffers.) The State Mill and Elevator continues to bolster the agricultural sector. Family farming is still the only constitutionally-allowed form of farming in North Dakota.
The NPL continued to dominate Reupblican primaries throughout the Great Depression, and ultimately merged with the North Dakota Democratic Party in the 1960s. In a deep red state, the Dem-NPL controlled 100% of the congressional delegation for the last two decades, until 2010. At its height, in the 1980s, the Dem-NPL not only controlled the congressional delegation, but also held 11 of 13 state-wide offices and the legislature. Remember, this is a deeply Republican state that has not voted for a Republican for president forever, except for Goldwater's debacle of '64.
Oh, and the "disgraced" Lynn Frazier? He went on to be elected in 1922, as an NPL Republican, of course, to the U.S. Senate where he served until 1940.