general elections, Merriam had lost much support from the right due to the 1935 tax reform laws and support for Social Security, while he garnered little support or sympathy from the left due to his troubled relationship with labor unions and the squelching of the Longshore Strike. For the elections, the Democratic Party nominated State Senator Culbert Olson, a former EPIC and Upton Sinclair supporter as well as an unabashed supporter of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. Republicans, meanwhile, renominated Merriam for a second term of office. Merriam lost to Senator Olson in an electoral landslide, ending the Republican dynasty over the governorship that had lasted for over forty years beginning with the election of Governor Henry Gage in 1898. Post governorship Merriam resided in the Bluff Park neighborhood of Long Beach, California. After his defeat, Merriam retired from public life. In 1941 he joined the California Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Following the death of former Governor and U.S. Senator Hiram Johnson in 1945, a brief write-in campaign for Merriam appeared, though it only garnered 500 votes. He died at home in Long Beach, on April 25, 1955, of a heart attack at the age of 89. References External links Biography Join California Frank Merriam 1865 births 1955 deaths Lieutenant Governors of California Speakers of the California State Assembly Republican Party members of the California State Assembly Republican Party California state senators State Auditors of Iowa Republican Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives People from Long Beach, California People from Delaware County, Iowa People from Wisner, Nebraska Republican Party governors of California American Presbyterians 20th-century American newspaper publishers (people) Editors of Iowa newspapers School superintendents in Nebraska American school principals School superintendents in Iowa 19th-century American educators Schoolteachers from Iowa 20th-century American politicians American anti-communists Lenox College alumni