November 7, 1916 1918 → 48.01% 47.94% | 28,094 28,051 | |
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The 1916 Arizona gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1916 for the post of the Governor of Arizona. Due to battles between labor and business, the Hunt administration was facing severe electoral backlash. After facing a fairly strong primary by former Council member George Olney, Hunt prevailed and went on to face the closest election in Arizona gubernatorial history. The initial results of the 1916 election were extremely close, only 30 votes separating the two major candidates.
Victory hinged on whether to count certain votes, Arizona then had a ballot where they could check a party column ballot signifying they voted for all of a party. Some voters did that for the Democratic Party column, but then also checked for Republican challenger Thomas Campbell, leading to a court battle over the interpretation of whether those votes were valid or not.
Thomas E. Campbell was sworn in as governor on January 1, 1917, but Hunt refused to leave office until the 27th, leaving Campbell as de facto governor. Hunt took office again on Christmas of 1917, after the court ruled unanimously in his favor. Campbell served nearly an entire year as governor. This would be the last election in which Hunt would run until 1922.