Washington State Capital Location Runoff Measure (1890)

Washington State Capital Location Runoff Measure
Election date November 4, 1890
Topic State capitals
Status Approved
Type Legislatively referred state statute	Origin State legislature

The Washington State Capital Location Runoff Measure was on the ballot as a legislatively referred state statute in Washington on November 4, 1890. Voters decided between three locations for the state capital. Olympia, Washington, received the 72.7% of the votes.

Article XIV of the Washington State Constitution provided that the Washington State Legislature could not change or decide the location of the state’s seat of government. Instead, voters needed to determine the location at the election on October 1, 1889. Selecting a capital city required a majority vote. If no location received a majority, the legislature was required to hold a second election with the three locations that received the most votes. If a majority was still not reached, a final election would have been held between the top two locations.

On October 1, 1889, voters decided on the first question.

Election results

Washington State Capital Location Measure (1890)
Location	Votes	Percentage	Outcome
Olympia	37,382	72.72%	a
Ellensburgh	7,757	15.09%	d
North Yakima	6,268	12.19%	d

Source: Washington Secretary of State

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for State Capital Location Runoff Measure was as follows:

“

For permanent location of seat of state government: Ellensburgh, North Yakima, Olympia.

”

Support and Opposition

Debates over the state capital’s location centered on whether geographical centrality or commercial activity should carry more weight. The Olympia Review published an article focused on the importance of the commercial activity of a capital city. It stated, “In selecting a capital more consideration should be given the business center of the state, than the geographic center. In these days of railroads and telegraphs, the latter counts for but little. The business center of Washington is, and will be, west of the mountains. The political center would better be near the business center. All interests and localities can better harmonize on Olympia than any place yet named.”

The Spokane Review published an article recognizing the importance of both attributes of a potential political city. It stated, “That the political center should of necessity be at the business center perhaps few will admit; and that Olympia is anywhere near the business center of the state of Washington certainly all will dispute. On the west side are Whatcom, Seattle, Port Townsend, Tacoma, and Gray’s Harbor. On the east side are Walla Walla, Dayton, Colfax, Ellensburgh, and Spokane Falls. In the center is North Yakima—sufficiently distant from each, sufficiently near to all."  

Arguments in support of Ellensburg as the political city focused on a different advantage. An advertisement in the Sunday Tacoma Ledger stated that North Yakima and Olympia were already full of political influence and power, and that only by placing the capital city in Ellensburg would the state be “[setting] up housekeeping in a new house with clean surroundings, entirely free from all time-rooted territorial political ties and entanglements.”

Additionally, the varied spelling of Ellensburg became a point of debate in the election for the capital city. The Walla Walla Journal stated, “So long as Ellensburgh will insist on spelling the name with an ‘h’ at the end, we feel that the superfluous letter will be the straw that will break the camel’s back.”

Path to the ballot

In March 1890, the Washington State Legislature passed Senate Bill 172 (SB 172), referring the question to the ballot.

See also

1890 Measures

• 1890 Measures
• State capitals on the ballot
• 1890 legislative sessions

Washington

• Washington ballot measures
• Washington ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls