George Richard Lunn

George Richard Lunn (June 23, 1873 – November 27, 1948) was an American Spanish-American War veteran, clergyman and politician from New York. He was the first Socialist mayor in the state of New York, a U.S. Representative from 1917 to 1919, and the lieutenant governor of New York from 1923 to 1924.

Early years George R. Lunn was born June 23, 1873, on a farm located near the small town of Lenox, Iowa. His parents, Martin Adolphus Lunn and the former Martha Bratton, reared 6 surviving children, four boys and two girls, with three others dying in infancy.

The son and grandson of farmers, Lunn was raised in a conservative religious household which strictly observed the Sabbath and regarded the playing of musical instruments in church to be an unacceptable nod to secularity. The family relocated to the city of Des Moines when George was just a boy, and he quit school at the age of 12 to work there as a paperboy. He then made his way further west to Omaha, Nebraska, where he worked as the driver of a delivery wagon. Although he had never preached before, church parishioners were not aware of this fact and Lunn accepted the position. However, near the end of his first year at Princeton the Spanish–American War erupted.

Return to ministry Following his release from the military, Lunn enrolled at Union Theological Seminary—an institution which he felt was less conservative and constraining than was the Princeton Seminary. —charges later dropped when the tension of the situation lessened. In 1920, he was defeated by Harry C. Walker in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senator from New York.

Later political career From 1919 to 1923 he served again as Schenectady's Mayor. He was a Delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, and 1936.

Lunn was Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1923 to 1924, elected on the Democratic ticket in 1922, but defeated for re-election in 1924, even as Democratic Governor Alfred E. Smith was winning reelection. The 1924 election was the last in which the Governor and Lieutenant Governor were elected on different tickets.

In 1925, Lunn was appointed to the New York Public Service Commission, and he served until 1942.

In 1928, Lunn was approached by New York Democrats to run for Governor after the presumptive nominee, William Stormont Hackett, died suddenly. Lunn declined, and the nomination eventually went to former assistant Navy Secretary Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Lunn served as Commander-in-Chief of the United Spanish War Veterans from 1931 to 1932.

Death and burial

Lunn retired to Del Mar, California, where he died on November 27, 1948. He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Together with his first wife, the former Mabel Healy of Brooklyn, Lunn raised a total of 5 children. Made a widower in 1931, Lunn remarried in 1932, wedding Anita Oliver Jensen of California.

Works "Testimony to the Special Investigative Committee of the New York State Assembly, Jan. 28, 1920." Corvallis, Ore.: 1000 Flowers Publishing, 2012.