George Boomer

George Boomer came to Washington state in 1898 as part of a project to establish a socialist colony on Puget Sound. He remained in the state for the rest of his life. George Ellsworth Boomer (November 29, 1862 – April 4, 1915) was an American socialist journalist, newspaper editor, and public speaker. Boomer is best remembered as a key participant in the formation of the Socialist Party of Washington and as its candidate for the Governor of Washington in 1908.

Biography Early years George Ellsworth Boomer was born November 29, 1862, in Lewiston, Maine, the son of workers in a cotton mill. Due to the family's poverty, Boomer himself soon went to work in the mills, taking a job which paid him 65 cents for each 12-hour day.

Boomer worked for a time as a newsboy, a job which brought him into contact with the world of newspaper publishing. He eventually found a first job in the industry assisting with the production of the Greenback Labor Chronicle of Auburn, Maine.

Political career Cartoon of George Boomer from his 1908 gubernatorial campaign. Boomer joined the Socialist Labor Party of America (SLP) in 1884. Boomer received more votes than any other SLP candidate in the election, a total of 1,709 out of about 43,000 ballots cast (4%). He was elected to the first State Committee of the Socialist Party of Washington (SPW) and served two terms as the SPW's representative on the governing National Committee of the Socialist Party of America in 1902 and 1903. Although identified with the left wing of the party, Boomer was also recognized as a peacemaker, being dispatched to Utah by the National Committee in 1902 to help broker a truce between warring party factions in Utah.

Boomer ran for Secretary of State of Washington in November 1904 on the ticket of the Socialist Party of America. He ran at the top of the state party's ticket in 1908 as the Socialist nominee for Governor of Washington.

In 1913, Boomer returned to Seattle where he helped to edit The Barbarian, a left wing satirical weekly.

During his life, Boomer made four national speaking tours on behalf of the Socialist Party. He was just 52 years old at the time of his death.

Footnotes

Works Twin Progeny of Capitalist Individualism: Assassins and Hero Worshipers. Edmonds, WA: George E. Boomer, 1912.