John Francis Dore (1881-1938), a controversial politician in the unsettled days of the Great Depression, was twice elected Mayor of Seattle. In his successful 1932 campaign, Dore won the support of labor and the unemployed with his proposed tax cuts and relief programs. In 1934, he lost re-election by pleasing business interests and alienated labor when he requested federal troops to deal with the West Coast longshoremen’s strike. Dore ran successfully in 1936, after changing positions once again and courting labor.

This poster, probably from Dore’s 1936 campaign, shows a man pondering the election and deciding to vote for Dore. Meyers, mentioned in the lower left panel, is probably local bandleader Victor A. (Vic) Meyers, who ran for mayor in 1934 as a lark but lost in the February primary. Dore died in 1938, but Meyers went on to be active in state politics.

Text on poster: Mayor Dore is the answer! Why take a chance on chaos? Support legitimate American unionisn with your ballot.

Caption information source: "Dore, John Francis (1881-1938)" by David Wilma, HistoryLink.org Essay 2720
Caption information source: "Meyers, Victor A. (1897-1991)" by Michael Hood, HistoryLink.org Essay 8392.