H. B. Wilkinson

Henry Bannister Wilkinson (July 31, 1870 – August 22, 1954) was an American lawyer and politician who served three consecutive terms in the

In mid 1920, there was some discussion of Wilkinson running for Arizona's United States Senate seat.^[27] However, he chose to run for re-election to the State Senate instead and easily won re-election in November.^[28][29] When the 5th Arizona State Legislature was convened, the Republicans were in control of the senate, 10–9. Wilkinson was nominated and won the Presidency of the Senate by a vote of 10–9, although not along strictly party lines, since W. D. Claypool, the Democrats' choice for president, voted for Wilkinson, while Wilkinson voted for Claypool.^[30][31] Through the 1930s, Wilkinson would be the only Republican to serve as either the Senate President or Speaker of the House.^[32] During the 5th legislature, Wilkinson introduced Senate Bill 125, the "Governor's Cabinet Measure", which was a massive reorganization of the state government. The existing 35 boards were to be abolished and replaced with eight new departments: Military Affairs, Finance, Agriculture, Public Welfare, Public Works and Buildings, Reclamation and Irrigation, Education and Registration, and Labor and Industry. While the bill passed the Senate with a party-line vote of 10–9, it never made it out of the House's Committee on Efficient Government, which was controlled 4–3 by the Democrats.^[33][34] He did not run for re-election to the State Senate in 1922.^[35]

In 1932 Wilkinson ran for Arizona's lone Congressional seat.

He was also the president of the