1922 election
Charlottesville
On Tuesday, June 13, 1922, in the first city election to included women voters and the first city election to include a women candidate, the voters of Charlottesville went to the polls to choose three councilmen from seven candidates to serve as commissioners under a new form of city government.
In 1922 there were three open seats on the city council under the new "Modified Commission Form" of government, (precursor to the current five seat city council), adopted by the qualified voters on December 17, 1920. Under the second city charter, Charlottesville changed from a ward system of electing a mayor and twelve member board of alderman, to an at-large (city wide) elected commission of three members. The commission was to hire a city manager and elected one of their own to serve as mayor.
Candidates | Votes | % |
---|---|---|
J. R. Morris | 914 | |
E. A. Joachim | 899 | |
J. Y. Brown | 843 | |
W. W. King | 320 | |
A. V. Conway | 269 | |
H. K. Hawthorne | 220 | |
Annie W. Walker | 91 |
Note: This was the first city election to included women voters and the first city election to include a women candidate. (Passed by Congress June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote.)
Each voter could vote for up to three candidates, one polling place each of the four wards. On Tuesday, June 13, 1922, the voters choose three candidates to serve as commissioner. Referred to as the “First Ticket” the three candidates named by the “Committee of Fifty-Five”, J. R. Morris, E. A. Joachim and J. Y. Brown, carried each of the four Wards by a margin of three-to-one, followed by candidates W. W. King, A. V. Conway, H. K. Hawthorne, and Annie W. Walker. Later that year, on September 1, 1922, the city was taken over by the Commission-Manager form of government.[1]