Delegates to Michigan Convention to Ratify 21st Amendment
Election held April 3, 1933
Convention held April 10, 1933

The 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution repealed the 18th Amendment (Prohibition). It was the only constitutional amendment in history which Congress specified had to be ratified by state conventions rather than by state legislatures.

Michigan acted quickly in order to get the issue before voters at the spring election. A bill was adopted to provide for a convention with 100 delegates, one for each state rep seat. Unlike the 1961 constitutional convention, no delegates were elected from state senate districts.

For each delegate position, there were two candidates: one pledged to vote "yes" on ratifying the amendment (the so-called "wet" candidate), the other pledged to vote "no" (the "dry" candidate).

The candidates were selected by county election commissions in each county (i.e., the county clerk, the county treasurer, and the chief probate judge), and were typically leaders of organizations campaigning to repeal or to maintain alcohol prohibition. In several counties, the names first announced were changed by the time ballots were printed.

Many newspapers pointed out that the convention had no deliberative function, and advised voters to vote their views on Prohibition rather than partisanship or personalities.

On April 3, 1933, Michigan voters elected 99 "wet" delegates and just one "dry" delegate (from Barry County).

The convention was held one week later in Lansing, and voted 99-1 for ratification of the repeal amendment. Michigan was the first state to ratify.

Two delegates, Charles E. Bartlett and Emil J. DeBacke (marked with * in the list below), both of the Wayne 1st, were unable to attend; Gov. William A. Comstock appointed substitutes for them. For Bartlett's position, Robert J. Teagan was appointed; for DeBacke's position, his brother Victor DeBacke was appointed.

Art Jensen (Montcalm County) was absent on the initial roll call, but he arrived in time for the ratification vote.

These events are somewhat obscure, perhaps because the election of delegates and convention were not documented in the 1933 Michigan Manual. The original records were destroyed in the 1951 state archives fire. Information on this page was compiled from state and county records and from newspaper reports by Lawrence Kestenbaum, 2007.

All of these delegates and candidates will soon be included in the Political Graveyard web site. If you are willing to share any biographical information on any of these individuals (e.g., birth and death dates, occupation, hometown, religious affiliation, etc.), please contact me via email at POLYGON at POLITICALGRAVEYARD dot COM, or by postal mail to Lawrence Kestenbaum, P.O. Box 2563, Ann Arbor MI 48106.