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Benjamin F. Harrison

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Benjamin F. Harrison
3rd Oklahoma Secretary of State
In office
January 9, 1911 – January 2, 1915
GovernorLee Cruce
Preceded byThomas Smith
Succeeded byH. G. Oliver
Speaker Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma House of Representatives
In office
November 16, 1908 – November 16, 1910
Preceded byAlbert H. Ellis
Member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives
In office
November 16, 1907 – November 16, 1910
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byWilliam A. Hammond
ConstituencyPittsburg County and Hughes County
Personal details
Born(1875-01-12)January 12, 1875
Antlers, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory
DiedMarch 23, 1936(1936-03-23) (aged 61)
Oklahoma, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic Party

Benjamin F. Harrison was a Native American politician in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. A member of the Democratic Party, he served for one term in the House before being elected Oklahoma's 3rd Secretary of State, where he would serve between January 1911 and January 1915.

Biography

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Benjamin F. Harrison was born in Antlers, Choctaw Nation on January 12, 1875, to a Chickasaw mother and a Choctaw father. He attended Wapanucka Institute in the Chickasaw Nation and later graduated from Trinity College of Arts and Sciences. After graduation he returned to Indian Territory to work as a schoolteacher before working for the Dawes Commission. He was a member of the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention. He represented Pittsburg County and Hughes County in the 1st and 2nd Oklahoma Legislatures. He was the speaker pro tem of the House during 2nd legislature.[1] Harrison ran in the 1910 Oklahoma elections for Oklahoma Secretary of State, defeating Leo Meyer in the Democratic primary. He went on to win the general election with 49.3% of the vote.[2] He was sworn in as the 3rd Oklahoma Secretary of State on January 9, 1911. He resigned from office sometime before January 2, 1915.[3]

Electoral history

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Oklahoma Secretary of State Democratic primary (August 2, 1910)[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ben F. Harrison 56,005 55.0%
Democratic Leo Meyer 45,874 45.0%
Turnout 101,879  
1910 Oklahoma Secretary of State election[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Ben F. Harrison 117,790 49.3% −5.5%
Republican Donald R. Fraser 94,180 39.4% −1.6%
Socialist J.V. Kolachny 23,581 9.8% +5.9%
Prohibition H.E. Strickler 2,931 1.2% New
Democratic hold Swing

References

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  1. ^ Corden, Seth K.; Richards, William B. (1912). The Oklahoma red book. Oklahoma City. p. 122. Retrieved 19 February 2024.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ a b c "1907-1912 Results" (PDF). oklahoma.gov. Oklahoma State Election Board. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  3. ^ "Secretaries of State since statehood". sos.ok.gov. Oklahoma Secretary of State. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Oklahoma Secretary of State
1910
Succeeded by
S. L. Lyon