California
California women won the vote in 1911, nine years before most American women were enfranchised with the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution. Four women won election to the California General Assembly in 1918, with most benefiting from the state’s unusual nominating system that allowed candidates to cross-file with more than one party.
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Esto B. Broughton
Esto B. Broughton, an attorney from Modesto, was the lone Democratic woman elected to the legislature in 1918. A true pioneer, she had a superior education at the University of California at Berkley and was the first female attorney in Stanislaus County. Broughton made herself a strong candidate by creating ties with her local political community; she won the race handily and was reelected in 1920, 1922, and 1924. She did not even face a challenger until 1924, when she easily defeated an independent candidate. Broughton served on the following committees: Civil Service; Direct Legislation; Engrossment and Enrollment; Irrigation; Public Morals; and Ways and Means. She also was as a delegate to the 1932 Democratic National Convention that nominated Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Grace S. Dorris
Grace S. Dorris, a schoolteacher from Bakersfield, defied partisanship: a Republican, California’s nominating system allowed her to also win the Democratic nomination and garner much support from the Progressive Party. She sponsored a resolution urging California’s congressional delegation to pass the federal women’s suffrage amendment, but had an up-and-down career. Dorris failed to win reelection in 1920; won in both 1922 and 1924; and lost her last bids in 1926 and 1928. Her committee assignments were County Government; Education, Labor, and Capital; Normal Schools [the era’s term for teacher-training]; Oil Industries; and Public Health and Quarantine.
Elizabeth Hughes
Elizabeth Hughes of Oroville was a housewife when she led a successful 1914 campaign in which Oroville was chosen over Chico as the seat of Butte County. This experience was a major factor in her 1918 election to the legislature as a Republican. She served on Agriculture; Conservation; Drainage, Swamp, and Overflowed Lands; Elections; and Federal Relations. Hughes won her 1920 reelection bid and also chaired the Education Committee.
Anna L. Saylor
Anna L. Saylor’s election from Alameda County was particularly notable: a Republican who won her party’s nomination with 57% of the vote, she also won the nominations of the Democratic, Progressive, and Prohibition parties. Assembly Speaker Clement C. Young, a member of the Progressive Party, campaigned for Saylor, and when he became governor in 1926, her career would be further enhanced with an appointment to the Governor’s Council. Re-elected three times, she chaired the Public Morals Committee and served on Constitutional Amendments; Education; Hospitals and Asylums; Prisons and Reformatories; Public Charities and Corrections. Her 1920 race was notable because it was one of the first in which women ran against each other: Saylor handily defeated Democrat Roma Mildred Burnett.
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