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Chapter 181: Victory

November 10, 2022Chevy Chase, Maryland Emmett Wilson, Congressman-Elect to U.S. Congress, was likely feeling no pain on Wednesday, May 15, 1912. Here’s why: From the Wednesday, May 15, 1912 edition of The Pensacola Journal, page 1. Source: ChroniclingAmerica.gov When Dannitte Mays telegraphed Frank Mayes about his decision to withdraw from […]

Chapter 180: Withdrawal

October 10, 2022Chevy Chase, Maryland On Friday, May 11, 1912, both candidates for the second primary, Emmett Wilson and Dannite Mays, were in Apalachicola for the Florida Democratic Executive Committee meeting. The purpose of the meeting: To confirm the final votes across the district, and to name the two candidates […]

Chapter 179: Whirlwind

May 9, 1912Pensacola, Florida And so, the race begins again. Three weeks of nonstop activity. Live speeches in fourteen counties. It will be the most compressed, pressured project ever undertaken, and I cannot let on how damned tired I am, nor how my stomach turns over in knots whenever I […]

Chapter 178: Visible Movement

October 3, 2022Chevy Chase, Maryland Second primaries, also known as runoff primary elections, were conducted in Florida until 2005, when Governor Jeb Bush signed a bill eliminating the second primary. The reasons for discontinuing them came down to timing and cost of conducting a third contest in an election year. […]

Chapter 177: Close to a Win

May 4, 1912Pensacola, Florida More than two-thirds of the vote for the congressional race has been counted, but here we are, several days after the election, and still, the final vote count was unknown. What adds to the delay is the fact that a huge storm has come through the […]

Chapter 176: Dead Level Earnest

September 1, 2022Chevy Chase, Maryland Here’s an interesting article about Emmett Wilson’s final speech to the public as he was winding up the Congressional campaign. I’ve transcribed the text from the newspaper, and have included annotations/notes here and there for additional information, in brackets. I liked how the writer (unnamed) […]

Chapter 175: Home Stretch

August 9, 2022Chevy Chase, Maryland At this time in Florida politics, it was customary to hold two primaries for the top two Democratic contestants, even if the races weren’t all that close, which would be decided in late June of the election year. The winner would face the Republican nominee […]

Chapter 174: Political Fun and Games

July 7, 2022Chevy Chase, Maryland Emmett had a hard campaign ahead of him, and to be honest, I don’t think he was as prepared (mentally, psychologically) as he thought. It wasn’t for a lack of trying, or a lack of loyal, hardworking and experienced campaign staff. Emmett was a virtual […]