The Election of 1922
Until the second half of 1922, the Klan had very little established presence in Washington State. Still in the early stages of being incorporated, with its leadership network still being recruited, the Klan had not yet established itself on paper or in the consciousness of the public. This changed with the Spokane elections of 1922 in which the Klan made their first attempts at influencing the regional politics of the state. While they later released a complete pamphlet of voting recommendations, the Klan made a noted entrance into the politics of Spokane in the Republican primary of the race for Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney.
Early in the race, the Klan, claiming 1200-1300 members in Spokane, publicized its interest in assessing the candidates. Of those running in the primary, two were majorly opposed by the Klan. One candidate, Harry L. Cohn, was opposed by the Klan on his supposed excess of leniency in prosecution. Also notable about Cohn, was his Jewish faith—something the Klan would undoubtedly have taken issue with. Another major candidate, Arthur L. Hooper, publicly opposed the Klan as a shadowy non-democratic organization was naturally opposed by the organization. Through the communication of school teacher and secretary of the Good Government League, R. J. Fry, The Klan announced that the Frank Kinsell, the choice of the Spokane Civic League (an early Klan political organ) had the backing of the invisible empire. Fry, the man to make this announcement, was later publicized to have been a member of the Klan himself.
Whether or not the victory can actually be attributed to the support of the Klan or not, Kinsell went on to become the Republican nominee for prosecutor. While Kinsell secured the nomination, there was substantial criticism of Klan involvement in the election. The criticism of the Klan followed the usual pattern of being over the controlling nature of the organization rather than the explicit bigotry of the organization. Critics urged voters to ignore party lines and instead vote for the democratic nominee for the position: Charles H. Leavy. Community members such as the outspoken critic Abraham Lincoln Clark spoke out that Kinsell as prosecutor would open the door for complete Klan control and mob rule at their hands.
While Kinsell lost the General election to Charles Leavy, the Klan nonetheless boasted political power following the election. Spokane Klansman Carlton H. Knight publicly claimed that Klan influence was to blame for the loss of Arthur L. Hooper in the Republican primary. Additionally, near to the end of the election cycle, the Klan released a complete list of endorsements going all the way up to their pick of C. C. Dill, the congressional representative for Washington’s 5th district and the democratic candidate for Federal Senator. After Dill won the senate seat, Klan lecturer Rev. R. L. Burger stated that the Klan was responsible for his election. While the Klan supported Dill, it is unlikely they are behind his rise to power as he was popular throughout his career and went on to retain the office until 1935. The Klan’s support of such a popular candidate is somewhat telling of the organizations place within Washington during the 1920s. Existing during a wave of broad conservatism and nativism, the ideology of the Klan was in many cases shared by the political establishment. Obstacles to the Klan came not from those fighting for social justice, but from those upset over the group’s infighting or over the aura of shadowy control the secret society attempted to exude.
Following the Election of 1922, the Klan did not leave the political sphere. Stoked from the political success in Oregon, the order, with ever increasing membership, devised new ways in which they could shape the laws of Washington to favor their conservative nativist morals. Following the success of a ballot measure in Oregon mandating public school attendance and effectively banning parochial schools, the Washington Klan quickly announced plans to follow suit, a move that would manifest as the height of the Washington and Spokane Klans’ political influence by 1924.