Halvor Langdon Halvorson (July 15, 1881 – October 3, 1951) was an American politician and attorney who served as the mayor of Minot, North Dakota and later became a

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates are most common where there is no limit on the number of times that a person can run for office and little cost ...

in North Dakota's congressional elections.

Early life

On August 15, 1881, Halvor Langdon Halvorson was born in Henning, Minnesota. In 1902, he graduated from the University of North Dakota with a law degree and in 1908, moved to Minot, North Dakota.

Career

In 1910, he ran for

state treasurer In the state and territorial governments of the United States, 54 of the 56 states and territories have the executive position of treasurer. New York abolished the office of New York State Treasurer in 1926, in which the duties were transfer ...

against incumbent Republican

Gunder Olson Gunder Olson (September 8, 1852 – December 11, 1948) was a North Dakota public servant and politician with the Republican Party. Biography Gunder Olson was born in the county of Telemark, Norway. He came to America with his parents when he wa ...

and in September was named as vice chairman of the state Democratic party, but was defeated. Following the resignation of former Commission President Arthur LeSueur on May 17, 1911, a special election was held on June 6, in which Halvorson narrowly defeated Dorr H. Carroll and Peter Vandenoever with 232 votes against 196 and 94 votes. In

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as the First World War, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip ...

, and

1918 The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...

, Halvorson ran for North Dakota's third House district, but lost each time with his best showing being 31.16%. He served as a delegate to the

1916 Democratic National Convention The 1916 Democratic National Convention was held at the St. Louis Coliseum in St. Louis, Missouri from June 14 to June 16, 1916. It resulted in the nomination of President Woodrow Wilson and Vice President Thomas R. Marshall for reelection. P ...

and gave his support to incumbent President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

. In

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Empire, British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that has been stored ...

, Halvorson attempted to win the Democratic nomination for governor, but was defeated by D. H. McArthur who went on to lose in a landslide to

Lynn Frazier Lynn Joseph Frazier (December 21, 1874January 11, 1947) was an American educator and politician who served as the 12th governor of North Dakota from 1917 until being 1921 North Dakota gubernatorial recall election, recalled in 1921 and later serv ...

. In

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

, he narrowly defeated L. S. Platon for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination with 6,020 votes to 5,244 votes and was narrowly defeated by Arthur G. Sorlie with 53.93% to 46.07% of the vote. In 1932 and 1938, he attempted to win the Democratic nomination for Senator, but was defeated both times. In 1940, he won the Democratic nomination for attorney general and was narrowly defeated by incumbent Alvin C. Strutz with 52.19% to 47.81% of the vote. In

1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...

and

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

, he ran for

North Dakota's at-large congressional district North Dakota's at-large congressional district is the sole congressional district for the state of North Dakota. Based on size, it is the eighth largest congressional district in the nation. The district was represented by Kelly Armstrong who se ...

, but was defeated both times although he was the best performing Democrat both times. In 1949, he was one of the attorneys who advised the

Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians (Ojibwe language: Mikinaakwajiw-ininiwag) is a federally recognized Native American tribe of Ojibwe based on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in Belcourt, North Dakota. The tribe has 30,000 e ...

in their $24,000,000 claim against the federal government. On October 3, 1951, he died in a Minot hospital after being there since June 26 due to pneumonia and a heart condition.

Electoral history

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Halvorson, Halvor L. 1881 births 1951 deaths People from Otter Tail County, Minnesota University of North Dakota alumni Mayors of Minot, North Dakota North Dakota lawyers North Dakota Democrats 20th-century American lawyers Candidates in the 1914 United States House of Representatives elections 20th-century North Dakota politicians