Franklin Heck

Candidate Biography:

Richard Franklin Heck
Born: November 6, 1893
Married: Violet Hazel Merritt and Reba Williams
Children: Franklin M., Marilea, and Ruth L.
Military Service: ARMY (WWI)
Died: September 19, 1961

1910s: Heck was an attorney in LeMoore, CA
In August of 1917, Heck prosecuted the first case of an illegal bootleg speakeasy.
In 1917, Heck (an expert telegraph operator) enlisted for active duty in the US Army Signal Corps

• LEGISLATION: In February 1921, Heck authored a house resolution directing the Sergeant-at-Arms to purchase a toupee for Assemblyman Frank Merriam and to "see that it was in place when the sun was out." Source "State Assembly to Buy Toupee for Billiard Ball at Sacramento"
• Prior to serving in the state legislature, Heck played baseball in the "State League"
• Franklin Heck was the first person to defeat an incumbent female legislature. In 1920, Heck (a Democrat) defeated Grace Dorris (an incumbent Republican) for the Republican nomination. As a result, Dorris did not appear on the 1920 General Election ballot but still received nearly 36% of the vote as a write-in candidate. Heck, as the nominee of both the Democratic and Republican parties, won the remaining votes.
• Heck does not appear to be related to Nobel Prize winning chemist Richard F. Heck.

Source: Advertisement, Hanford Journal (Daily), Number 52, 28 January 1917
Source: "LeMoore" Hanford Sentinel, Number 36, 30 August 1917
Source: "State Assembly to Buy Toupee for Billiard Ball at Sacramento", Stockton Independent, Volume 120, Number 25, 25 February 1921