{{Short description|Native American politician}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = <!-- defaults to article title when left blank --> | image = Benjamin F. Harrison.png | caption = Harrison in 1912 | office = 3rd Oklahoma Secretary of State | governor = Lee Cruce | term_start = January 9, 1911 | term_end = January 2, 1915 | predecessor = Thomas Smith | successor = H. G. Oliver | office2 = Speaker Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma House of Representatives | term_start2 = November 16, 1908 | term_end2 = November 16, 1910 | predecessor2 = Albert H. Ellis | successor2 = N. J. Johnson | office3 = Member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives | term_start3 = November 16, 1907 | term_end3 = November 16, 1910 | predecessor3 = Position established | successor3 = William A. Hammond | constituency3 = Pittsburg County and Hughes County | birth_date = {{birth date|1875|1|12}} | birth_place = Antlers, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory | death_date = {{death date and age|1936|3|23|1875|1|12}} | death_place = Oklahoma, U.S. | party = Democratic Party }} '''Benjamin F. Harrison''' was a Native American politician in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. A member of the Democratic Party, he served for one term in the House before being elected Oklahoma's 3rd Secretary of State, where he would serve between January 1911 and January 1915.
==Biography== Benjamin F. Harrison was born in Antlers, Choctaw Nation on January 12, 1875, to a Chickasaw mother and a Choctaw father. He attended Wapanucka Institute in the Chickasaw Nation and later graduated from Trinity College of Arts and Sciences. After graduation he returned to Indian Territory to work as a schoolteacher before working for the Dawes Commission. He was a member of the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention. He represented Pittsburg County and Hughes County in the 1st and 2nd Oklahoma Legislatures. He was the speaker pro tem of the House during 2nd legislature.<ref name="Red Book Bio">{{cite book |last1=Corden |first1=Seth K. |last2=Richards |first2=William B. |title=The Oklahoma red book |date=1912 |location=Oklahoma City |page=122 |url=https://archive.org/details/oklahomaredbook00okla/page/120/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater&q=Dunlop |access-date=19 February 2024}}</ref> Harrison ran in the 1910 Oklahoma elections for Oklahoma Secretary of State, defeating Leo Meyer in the Democratic primary. He went on to win the general election with 49.3% of the vote.<ref name="1910 Results" /> He was sworn in as the 3rd Oklahoma Secretary of State on January 9, 1911. He resigned from office sometime before January 2, 1915.<ref name="SOS">{{cite web |title=Secretaries of State since statehood |url=https://www.sos.ok.gov/home/former_secretaries.aspx |website=sos.ok.gov |publisher=Oklahoma Secretary of State |access-date=18 February 2024}}</ref>
==Electoral history== {{Election box begin no change | title= Oklahoma Secretary of State Democratic primary (August 2, 1910)<ref name="1910 Results">{{cite web |title=1907-1912 Results |url=https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/elections/election-results/results-prior-to-1980/1907-1912-results.pdf |website=oklahoma.gov |publisher=Oklahoma State Election Board |access-date=23 September 2023}}</ref> }} {{Election box winning candidate with party link no change | candidate = Ben F. Harrison | party = Democratic Party (US) | votes = 56,005 | percentage = 55.0% }} {{Election box candidate with party link no change | candidate = Leo Meyer | party = Democratic Party (US) | votes = 45,874 | percentage = 45.0% }} {{Election box turnout no change | votes = 101,879 }} {{Election box end}} {{Election box begin | title=1910 Oklahoma Secretary of State election<ref name="1910 Results" />}} {{Election box winning candidate with party link| |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = Ben F. Harrison |votes = 117,790 |percentage = 49.3% |change = -5.5% }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = Donald R. Fraser |votes = 94,180 |percentage = 39.4% |change = -1.6% }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Socialist Party of America |candidate = J.V. Kolachny |votes = 23,581 |percentage = 9.8% |change = +5.9% }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Prohibition Party |candidate = H.E. Strickler |votes = 2,931 |percentage = 1.2% |change = ''New'' }} {{Election box hold with party link| |winner = Democratic Party (United States) |total = 240,275 |swing = }} {{Election box end}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=William Macklin Cross}} {{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for Oklahoma Secretary of State|years=1910}} {{s-aft|after=Joseph Lucien Lyon}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Ben F.}} Category:Democratic Party members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives Category:Secretaries of state of Oklahoma Category:Members of the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention Category:Chickasaw people Category:Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma people Category:Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma state legislators in Oklahoma Category:20th-century Oklahoma politicians Category:1875 births Category:1936 deaths Category:20th-century members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives