Howard E. Wright

Candidate Biography:

Howard Elwood Wright
Born: October 20, 1866 in Carson City, NV
Married: Jean Wellman (m. 1893)
Children: Elwood, Donald, and Henry Allyn
Died: October 10, 1942 in Berkeley, CA

1899: Speaker, California State Assembly*

• Wright resigned after 29 days as Speaker due to allegations of unethical conduct relating to a vote-buying scheme involving candidates for US Senate (who were elected by the legislature at that time). Source: Tim Morland, Assembly Chief Clerk's Office
• Change of Tune: In November 1898, the San Francisco Call described Wright "his record as a legislator is irreproachable and his ability to discharge the duties of the important position unquestioned" while four months later, it said "Judas Iscariot was an apostate, Danton was a fiend, Howard E. Wright is a disgraced legislator who supports Dan Burns."
  Source: San Francisco Call, Volume 84, Number 169, 11 November 1898
  Source: San Francisco Call, Volume 85, Number 108, 18 March 1899
  
• According to contemporary reporting, in addition to resigning as Speaker, Wright had also forged campaign finance documents (the penalty for which would have been forfeiture of office) and an expulsion resolution had been introduced by Assemblyman James K. Burnett which would likely have been brought up for consideration of the day of the resignation.

Source: Assembly Journal (1899 Session)
Source: Howard Elwood* Wright - Facts
Source: Howard E. Wright - Wikipedia