# 1912 Colorado gubernatorial election

Elections in Colorado :
Federal government
Presidential elections
1876
1880
1884
1888
1892
1896
1900
1904
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Presidential caucuses and primaries
Democratic
2000
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Republican
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
U.S. Senate elections
1876
1879
1883 sp
1885
1889
1891
1895
1897
1901
1903
1907
1909
1913
1913 sp
1914
1918
1920
1924
1924 sp
1926
1930
1932
1932 sp
1936
1938
1942
1942 sp
1944
1948
1950
1954
1956
1960
1962
1966
1968
1972
1974
1978
1980
1984
1986
1990
1992
1996
1998
2002
2004
2008
2010
2014
2016
2020
2022
2026
2028
U.S. House of Representatives elections
1876
1878
1880
1882
1884
1886
1888
1890
1892
1894
1896
1898
1900
1902
1904
1906
1908
1910
1912
1914
1916
1918
1920
1922
1924
1926
1927
1st sp
1928
1930
1932
1934
1936
1938
1940
3rd sp
1941
4th sp
1942
1944
1st sp
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1983
6th sp
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
4th sp :
State government
General elections
2010
2014
2018
2020
2022
Gubernatorial elections
1876
1878
1880
1882
1884
1886
1888
1890
1894
1896
1898
1900
1902
1904
1906
1908
1910
1912
1914
1916
1918
1920
1922
1924
1926
1928
1930
1932
1934
1936
1938
1940
1942
1944
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026
Secretary of State elections
2022
Attorney General elections
2014
2018
2022
Treasurer elections
2022
Colorado State Board of Regent elections
2016
Senate elections
2013 (recall)
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
House of Representatives elections
2018
2020
2022
2024 :
Ballot measures
List of Colorado ballot measures
1893
2
1972
8
1974
1
1982
1
1992
2
2000
20
2004
36
2006
38
41
42
43
44
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
2008
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
54
58
59
L
2010
62
2012
64
2018
A
2020
B
C
EE
113
114
2022
125
126
FF
2023
HH
II
2024
79
80
I
J
127
128
129
131 :
Colorado Springs
Local elections
2019
Mayoral elections
1995
1997 sp
1999
2003
2007
2011
2015
2019
2023 :
Denver
Mayoral elections
2003
2007
2011
2015
2019
2023 :
El Paso County
Local elections
2018 :
Pueblo
Mayoral elections
2023–24 :
vte :
The 1912 Colorado gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1912. Democratic state Senator Elias M. Ammons defeated the Progressive, Republican and Socialist candidates future Senator Edward P. Costigan, Clifford C. Parks and Charles A. Ashelstrom with 42.91% of the vote.

## Background

In 1910, incumbent Democratic Governor John F. Shafroth had won reelection by a 51–43 margin against Republican State Senator John B. Stephen. Shafroth two terms in office were defined by his push for progressive reforms. He successfully passed direct primary, recall, home rule and labor control laws against strong opposition of the Democratic machine in Denver and Colorado corporations. In 1912, Shafroth decided against running for another term. Instead, he successfully ran for United States Senator that year.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Republican party was divided into two main wings: the progressives (led by Theodore Roosevelt) and the conservatives (led by William Howard Taft). The rift between the two wings had deepened during the Taft's service as 27th President of the United States, prompting former President Roosevelt to run against the incumbent Taft for the Republican nomination in the 1912 United States Presidential Election. Taft won the nomination at the 1912 Republican National Convention in Chicago, causing Roosevelt to found the Progressive and run as a third-party candidate. In many other national and state elections in the year 1912, candidates ran against the Democratic and Republican nominees under Roosevelt's "Progressive" or "Bull Mouse" Banner.
In Colorado, Edward P. Costigan quickly emerged as the leader of the new Progressive Party and was chosen by the party to contest the gubernatorial race.

## Democratic primary

State Senator Elias M. Ammons was able to win the Democratic primary on September 10, 1912, against former Attorney General Joseph H. Maupin and Colorado State Penitentiary Warden Thomas J. Tynan. Ammons had positioned himself as a moderate reformer, who strongly opposed Roosevelt's conservation policies.

### Candidates
#### Nominated

* Elias M. Ammons, State Senator

#### Eliminated in the primary

* Joseph H. Maupin, former Attorney General (1890–1892)
* Thomas J. Tynan, Colorado State Penitentiary Warden

### Results

Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Elias M. Ammons | 29,349 | 45.10 |
| | Democratic | Thomas J. Tynan | 21,037 | 32.33 |
| | Democratic | Joseph H. Maupin | 14,686 | 22.57 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 65,072 | 100.0 |

## Republican primary

Former State Auditor Clifford C. Parks was able to win the Republican primary on September 10, 1912, against attorney Philip B. Stewart. The Republican primary was shaped by the divide between "regular" Republicans which supported President Taft and "progressive" Republicans which supported former President Roosevelt. In July 1912, the progressive candidate Stewart had been asked by fellow Roosevelt supporters to leave the Republican Party and join the Progressive Party. He declined and instead ran as a Roosevelt supporter in the Republican primary. Stewart lead the race in early returns which lead multiple newspaper to call him the apparent winner. After all votes were counted, Clifford C. Parks was declared as the winner. Philip Stewart did not support the Republican ticket in the general election, and ran as a Presidential elector for Teddy Roosevelt in the 1912 presidential election.

### Candidates
#### Nominated

* Clifford C. Parks, former Auditor of the State (1894–1896)

#### Eliminated in the primary

* Philip B. Stewart, Attorney

### Results

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Clifford C. Parks | 21,247 | 53.22 |
| | Republican | Philip B. Stewart | 18,676 | 46.78 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 39,923 | 100.0 |

## General Election
### Results

Colorado gubernatorial election, 1912 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Elias M. Ammons | 109,825 | 42.91% |
| | Progressive | Edward P. Costigan | 66,132 | 24.88% |
| | Republican | Clifford C. Parks | 63,061 | 23.73% |
| | Socialist | Charles A. Ashelstrom | 16,189 | 6.09% |
| | Prohibition | John Henry Ketchum | 5,900 | 2.22% |
| | Socialist Labour | Jonathan U. Billings | 460 | 0.17% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 261,567 | 100% |

## Aftermath

Elias M. Ammons was sworn in as the 19th Governor of Colorado in Denver on January 14, 1913. In the 1912 Colorado House of Representatives and Colorado Senate elections the Democrats won a 48-17 and 24–11 majority in the 19th General Assembly, respectively. The Colorado State Government was therefore dominated by Democrats during Ammons' term from 1913 to 1915.
Ammons and the Democrats' legislative proposals would be overshadowed by the Colorado Coalfield War, which climaxed in the 1914 Ludlow Massacre. Ammons was the commander-in-chief of the Colorado National Guard, that caused the massacre by attacking the tent city called Ludlow Colony. The strike caused between 69 and 199 deaths. After the massacre, Governor Ammons was torn between the interests of the striking miners, which had political support by some Democrats like State Senator Helen Ring Robinson, and the mine owners under the leadership of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and decided to request the deployment of federal troops to calm the violent clashes. After massive criticism and nationwide outrage, Ammons decided to not run for reelection in the 1914 Colorado gubernatorial election and subsequently retired from public life.