The year 1948 proved to be a watershed in Madera's politics. Earlier city elections had been fairly tranquil. Over the previous 40 years, if an incumbent was challenged, the contest didn't raise anybody's blood pressure.
City elections in 1948, however, revealed that Madera had grown up. All of a sudden city leaders such Mayor John Gordon and councilmen Arthur D. Cook, J. Wesley Smith, John McNally, and Irvine Schnoor seemed to take their politics more seriously.
Gordon had first been elected to the Madera City Council in 1925 and was named mayor in that same year. His tenure as mayor notwithstanding, however, in 1948, Madera's senior politician was Arthur D. Cook. He had been elected to the council in 1918.
Cook opted not to run for re-election to the council in the heated 1948 election, so his seat was up for grabs. The second open position was that held by John McNally, who was forced to run because he had been an appointee to the council in 1947.
Bill Coate William "Bill" Coate is a San Joaquin Valley historian, author, television personality and retired public school teacher with 36 years of classroom experience. He is the award-winning founder of the Madera Method, a research-based educational program that uses primary source materials to help students explore history. He writes about the past of our nation and valley with a weekly column and story. He also writes articles pertaining to local schools.
