H. F. Samuels was the leading spokesman of the Idaho chapter of the Non-Partisan League

Non-Partisan League

The Nonpartisan League was a political organization founded in 1915 in the United States by former Socialist Party organizer A. C. Townley. The Nonpartisan League advocated state control of mills, grain elevators, banks and other farm-related industries in order to reduce the power of corporate...

 and later the Idaho Progressive Party in the 1910s and 1920s.

Samuels became a multi-millionaire in the mining

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 industry in northern Idaho. Originally a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

, with Non-Partisan League support Samuels won the Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 nomination for Governor of Idaho in 1918 despite strong opposition from the Democratic Party leadership. Samuels was defeated by Republican D. W. Davis

D. W. Davis

David William Davis was the 12th Governor of Idaho, serving from 1919 to 1923.Davis was born in Cardiff, Wales. His family immigrated to the United States in 1875, and settled in Rippey, Iowa...

.

After Idaho repealed the direct primary in 1919, the Non-Partisan League formed the Idaho Progressive Party. Idaho Progressives nominated Samuels as their gubernatorial candidate in 1922 and 1924. Although Samuels beat the Democratic candidates in both elections, he was ultimately defeated in both by Republican Charles C. Moore

Charles C. Moore

Charles Calvin Moore was the 13th Governor of Idaho, serving from 1923 until 1927.Moore served in the Idaho Legislature as a member of the Idaho State House of Representatives from 1903 to 1906. He was elected the 14th Lieutenant Governor of Idaho in 1918 and served in that capacity during the...

.

In 1926 Samuels won the Progressive United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 nomination, again bested the Democratic nominee (John F. Nugent

John F. Nugent

John Frost Nugent was a Democratic United States Senator from Idaho.Nugent attended public schools, and worked in mines in Idaho and Australia. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1898, commencing practice in Silver City, Idaho...

), but lost to the Republican (Frank R. Gooding

Frank R. Gooding

Frank Robert Gooding was a Republican United States Senator and the seventh Governor of Idaho. The city of Gooding and Gooding County, both in southern Idaho, are named for him....

). He retired from public life after the demise of the Idaho Progressive Party in 1928.