History
In 1904, I&R advocates began making headway with an endorsement
from the Prohibitionist Party, followed in 1906 by the support of the
Socialists and Populists and, in 1910, that of the Democrats. An
amendment by Republican State Representative David E. Kulp calling for
statewide I&R reached the floor of the lower house of the legislature in
1911, but it was defeated 58 to 42.
In the election campaign of 1912, both the Republican Party and its
offspring, the Progressive Party, endorsed I&R. In 1913 the legislature voted
overwhelmingly in favor of I&R: approval was nearly unanimous in the
senate, and there were only 11 negative votes in the house. But
ratification by the voters had to wait because the state constitution
specified that any amendments had to be cleared by the legislature
twice, in two successive sessions with an election between them. In 1915
the legislature voted against I&R, and the proposed amendment never
reached the voters.
Excerpted from the Initiative & Referendum Almanac by M. Dane Waters.