Louis M. Scates was one of the first socialists elected to a state legislature in the United States, winning election in 1899.

Louis M. Scates (c. 1863–1954) was an American labor activist and politician from Massachusetts. Scates, a shoeworker and street car operator, was a member of the Social Democratic Party of America when he was elected in 1899. He served a single term in the Massachusetts House of Representatives alongside fellow SDP member James F. Carey.[1][2]

Biography

Scates was defeated in his November 1899 bid for re-election by 317 votes when Democrats and Republicans fused their efforts behind the candidacy of Republican Carleton M. How.[3]

After his electoral defeat, Scates would later serve on the staff of the radical Boot and Shoe Workers' Union.[4]

Scates was expelled from the Socialist Party in 1907 for voting against continuation of the use of referendum ballots for the election of officials of the Boot & Shoe Workers’ Union, deemed a violation of socialist principles.[5]

Louis M. Scates died in August 1954 at Haverhill, Massachusetts. He was 91 years old at the time of his death.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Richardson, Darcy G. (April 2007). Others: Third Parties During the Populist Period. iUniverse. pp. 266–. ISBN 9780595443048. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  2. ↑ Socialism and Government: Working Programs and Records of Socialists in Office. Appeal to Reason. 1916. pp. 25–.
  3. ↑ "Socialism Strides Forward!" Haverhill Social Democrat, vol. 1, no. 6 (Nov. 11, 1899), pg. 1
  4. ↑ Henry F. Bedford, Socialism and the Workers in Massachusetts, 1886-1912. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1966; pp. 86, 98.
  5. ↑ "Expelled by Socialist Club," Boston Globe, Sept. 13, 1907, pg. 8.


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