Charles M. Roberts

Charles M. Roberts (1866 – October 12, 1932) was an American politician who served in the first Arizona State Senate.^[1]

Life

Charles M. Roberts was born in

In 1918, Roberts' wife was appointed by Governor Hunt as a regent of the University of Arizona. She was the first woman to serve as a member of the Board of Regents.^[12] After entrance of the U.S. into World War I, Roberts applied to enlist the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.^[13] Roberts died at a hospital in Douglas, Arizona on October 12, 1932.^[14]

Political career

Roberts entered the political arena in 1906, when he was selected as an election officer for the

In 1914, along with Sims, Roberts ran for re-election. It was known as early as March 2014 that Roberts would be seeking re-election.[28] Sims also ran for re-election, however during the primary Roberts came in 3rd, behind a newcomer, William M. Riggs, who led all vote-getters, and Sims. The primary was held on September 8, and by the 13th, 32 out of 46 precincts had reported in, with Roberts solidly in second place with 1348 votes, behind Riggs with 1655, but in front of Sims with 1209.^[29] However, two days later, a week after the election, there was only a single district remaining, and Roberts lead had disappeared and Sims now led him by 16 votes. That district, West Huachuca, had a total of 24 Democratic votes to be counted. When all the votes were tallied the results were Riggs: 2643; Sims: 2107; Roberts: 2099; and Joseph H. Gray 1620.^[30][31] After his defeat, Roberts contemplated filing a legal contestation of the election, claiming Riggs' nomination was not legal.^[32]

In 1915, there was some talk of his seeking the gubernatorial nomination, succeeding Hunt.

In 1919, Roberts once again entered the contest for the Democratic nomination for Governor.[47]^[48] While he was the first to declare his intent to seek the governorship, he withdrew from the race on August 18, 1920, stating, "Believing no Democrat can afford to consider personal interest above that of his party, I have decided to withdraw from the contest for the Democratic nomination for governor."^[49][50] Due to his aborted candidacy for governor, Roberts did not run for re-election for county supervisor in 1920. In 1922, he announced his intention to run yet again for the state senate, representing Cochise County.^[51] He was joined by former state senators Sims and John P. Cull, as well as political newcomers William Delbridge and T. A. Hughes.^[52] Once again, Roberts and Sims won the Democratic primary,^[53] and both won by large majorities in the general election in November.^[54]

References