John R. Brinkley Elected Governor of Kansas

[wilcoxchar]

For those who don't know who John R. Brinkley is, he was a quack doctor in the 1920s and radio pioneer. After the Kansas Medical Board stripped his license to practice, he was determined to run for governor which would led him appoint members of the medical board. In 1930, he campaigned for governor of Kansas as a write-in independent, and almost won. The reason he lost in 1930 was because the attorney general, who had prosecuted Brinkley before, changed the election law to make it so only one spelling of his name counted as valid. Even still, Brinkley got 29.5% of the vote and 30.6% in 1932 when he ran again (losing to Alf Landon in that election). The attorney general later admitted that if he hadn't changed the rule, Brinkley would have been elected.

So, what happens if Brinkley is elected governor?

 

[Ariosto]

Other than carrying out his personal vendetta I have no idea; he ran for the Republican nomination for Governor in '34 and lost to Landon 79-21 so I suspect his politics would naturally be more favorable to that Party, but he was running against Landon so I can't be sure if he was a middle-roader like Landon was.

However if elected, and if he still defects to the Republican Party, I think he would be a safe bet for reelection should he choose to do so unless he tries something uncouth politically.
​

 

[David T]

Some of his later political associations are, to put it mildly, disturbing. https://groups.google.com/d/msg/soc.history.what-if/0QLmpYIq2OI/lE91qmHUjFcJ However, as I note there, "Admittedly, that was very late in Brinkley's career, and doesn't necessarily provide much of a clue as to his politics had he been elected in 1930 or 1932. '

 

[Coiler]

In 1930 or 1932, he probably stuffs the medical board with his appointees (the biggest reason for running, as his broadcast and medical licenses were revoked), does a please-everyone agenda, and then either quits or loses two years later. Brinkley was many things, but he does not give the impression of being the ideal state governor, and being an incumbent in the Depression won't help.