Gordon H. Garland

Candidate Biography:

Gordon Hickman Garland
Born: May 16, 1899 in Lebanon, Missouri
Married: Chinina
Children: Frederick Ronstadt, Alice Wilson, Letha Martin, and Barbara Ogilvie
Died: May 20, 1986 in Exeter, CA

1940-1942: Speaker, California State Assembly
1940: On February 18th, Garland discovered a microphone in his hotel bedroom that was connected to a recording device in an adjacent hotel room. The Assembly then convened the "Assembly Investigating Committee on Interference With the Legislature" (whose seven members were Harrison W. Call, Seth Millington, Chester F. Gannon, Ray Williamson, C. Don Field, and Hugh M. Burns). The Governor vetoed AB 64 (which approved funding for the Investigating Committee), which was over-ridden by the Legislature. The final report of the committee found six people directly or indirectly implicated in the incident; Howard R. Philbrick (DMV Director), Robert E. Voshell (whose hotel room had the recording device in it), Paul H. Rowe, Stanley Mosk, National Guard Lt. Colonel Charles Henderson, and Governor Culbert L. Olson.
1942: Primary Candidate for SBOE-01 (Won)*
1946: Primary Candidate for SBOE-02 (Lost)

• His obituary in the San Jose Mercury News noted that the first act Garland took as Speaker was to "rip a telephone from the podium [in the Assembly Chambers] that provided a direct line to Olson's office." It also noted that "a legislative investigation revealed that the governor's office paid to have Garland's hotel room bugged."
• Disqualified: In 1942, Garland retired from the Assembly to run for the Board of Equalization. He won the Republican primary handily but lost the primary for his own party (Democratic) and was therefore disqualified from appearing on the November ballot.

Source: California Blue Book (1938)