Senate Fight Begins
BLACKWOOD, GEORGE D.
Senate Fight Begins Illinois Republican primary on April 13 launches a seven-month struggle for 35 seats in the upper house; as many as 23 contests could be close By George D....
...The veteran Matthew Neely is favored over any possible opponent in West Virginia, particularly since the Republicans are having patronage difficulties there...
...Herbert J. Warburton...
...The Democrats have already named the popular Rep...
...Republican Governor William Beardsley appears ready to compete for the seat, and Congressman Thomas Martin announced several months ago that he would seek the GOP nomination...
...But even if his health is good, Anderson is seriously challenged by an aggressive Republican, Governor Edwin Mechem...
...New Jersey Democrats, heartened by their victories last November, will use all their resources to win the seat held by Robert C. Hendrickson, who has had enough...
...Among middle-of-the-road Republicans, only Margaret Chase Smith is fairly certain of beating Democratic opposition...
...The table on this page shows how these seats are divided...
...Two of the best-known Democrats, Kefauver and Sparkman, face their severest tests in the primaries...
...James Murray and Theodore Green are 78 and 87, respectively, and Matthew Neely will be over 75 by Election Day...
...The key figure in this group is Paul Douglas...
...In Ohio, Democrat Thomas Burke, appointed after the death of Senator Taft, will face formidable opposition --possibly from Taft's old cohort, Rep...
...Because of the 11 Southerners up for re-election, the Democrats will have 36 Senate seats even if they lose every Northern stale...
...Three liberal Democrats face an inexorable foe...
...The GOP will select its candidate in an open primary, the nation's earliest, on April 13...
...And, in Texas, Democratic Senate leader Lyndon Johnson expects a bitter primary battle...
...In New Mexico, several newspapers have been carrying stories claiming that Clinton Anderson's health is not very good and that he will not be able to campaign as vigorously as he did in 1948...
...In Louisiana, Governor Robert Kennon...
...as many as 23 contests could be close By George D. Blackwood REPUBLICANS and Democrats are anxiously planning their campaigns for the November elections...
...an Eisenhower supporter in 1952, will compete in the primary with Senator Allan Ellender...
...Martin Dies and former Governor Coke Stevenson have shown interest in unseating Johnson...
...Here, too, the conservatives may have a split vote...
...Samuel Yorty, a strong candidate...
...The Republicans may unintentionally aid him, though, by engaging in a bitter primary battle...
...In Massachusetts, Republican Senator Leverett Saltonstall will be opposed by Foster Furcolo, while Kentucky's liberal Republican John Sherman Cooper faces a strong race by 76-year-old Alben W. Barkley...
...the Republicans will probably run the liberal former Congressman, Clifford Case...
...The Republicans are trying to draft reluctant Governor Dan Thornton, a good vote-getter, in the hope of capturing the seat...
...George Bender...
...In Colorado, Edwin Johnson, who also is president of the Western Baseball League, has decided to step down from the Senate...
...What about the Democratic middle-of-the-roaders...
...Former American Legion Commander Donald Wilson has recently been mentioned as the Republican candidate, but two reactionary ex-Senators, Chapman Revercomb and Rush Holt, have expressed a desire to return to Washington...
...probably Rep...
...Pat Sutton, but Tennessee conservatives fear that others may enter the race and split their vote...
...In Arkansas, John McClellan will have to contend with a primary bid from the state's liberal ex-Governor, Sid McMath...
...What are the prospects...
...Middle-road Democrats (4) E. Johnson, Colorado Frear, Delaware Gillette, Iowa Hunt, Wyoming Liberal Democrats (6) Douglas, Illinois Humphrey, Minnesota Murray, Montana Anderson, New Mexico Green, Rhode Island Neely, West Virginia Southern Democrats (11) Sparkman, Alabama McClellan, Arkansas Russell, Georgia Ellender, Louisiana Eastland, Mississippi Lennon, North Carolina Kerr, Oklahom Maybank, South Carolina Kefauver, Tennessee L. Johnson, Texas Robertson, Virginia Middle-road Republicans (3) Cooper, Kentucky Saltonstall, Massachusetts M. Smith, Maine Conservative Republicans (8) Dworshak, Idaho Schoeppel, Kansas Ferguson, Michigan Griswold, Nebraska Bridges, New Hampshire Hendrickson, New Jersey Cordon, Oregon Mundt, South Dakota Not up for re-election in 1954 : 34 Republicans, 25 Democrats, 1 Independent...
...One Southerner who will be displaced is North Carolina's little-known Alton B. Lennon, who was appointed to fill out the late Willis Smith's term...
...His Democratic opponent will be Rep...
...The six liberal Democrats all face a strong challenge in November...
...The other 23 seats are up for grabs, and it"s a long time from May to November...
...Nevertheless, all have indicated that they will run again...
...The most important battle will be for control of the Senate, where 35 seats are to be decided this fall...
...Two conservative Senators in trouble are Homer Ferguson in Michigan and Henry Dworshak in Idaho...
...Wesley D'Ewart, Lieutenant Governor George Gosman and J. Wellington Rankin, the GOP National Committeeman, who gave Murray a close race in 1942, are all being mentioned as his opponent...
...But Idaho's Democrats are also split...
...Should Green reconsider, Rhode Island's Democratic Governor Dennis J. Roberts might try for his seat...
...In neighboring Alabama, Sparkman faces the hostility of states'-rights elements...
...One group supports the candidacy of ex-Senator Glen Taylor, Henry Wallace's running mate in 1948: the other still wistfully hopes for Harriman...
...For complete details, see Albert N. Votaw's report on page 9.--Ed.] Minnesota Republicans are also finding it difficult to come up with someone to oppose Hubert Humphrey...
...The same cannot be said for New Dealer James Murray, who faces a stiff fight in Montana...
...Adding Maine and New Hampshire to their present incumbents will give the Republicans a like number...
...There may be a Democratic convention tussle in Delaware, where J. Allan Frear won a surprise victory in 1948...
...These hopes seem unwarranted...
...Their first choices, Rep...
...Humphrey's chances look good, but a tight battle is likely...
...Charles Mayo, who was urged by the President himself to accept the nomination...
...Walter Judd and Governor C. Elmer Anderson, both declined, as did Dr...
...Michigan's Governor G. Mennen Williams or former Senator Blair Moody will, oppose Ferguson, who may be hurt by unemployment in the state...
...Always popular in Iowa, he will again be bucking the persistent Republican tide...
...Both of these men could easily upset Gillette, even though he won by a big margin in 1948...
...The California seat formerly occupied by Vice President Nixon went by appointment to Thomas Kuchel, who now seeks election...
...His seat is slated to go to former Governor Kerr Scott, a leading Southern liberal...
...Either man should be regarded as a probable winner...
...She will have to weather a strong primary fight, however, with Robert Jones, who declares he is running "on the principles of McCarthyism...
...In New Hampshire, Robert Upton now occupies the seat left vacant by Senator Tobey's death...
...Laurie Battle announced that he would seek the seat...
...Three Senate elections are due to special circumstances...
...Charles R. Howell...
...Dworshak in Idaho may get a primary fight from Governor Len Jordan...
...Of the 32 seats which come up for regular election, 21 are held by Democrats and 11 by Republicans...
...Frear may decide to retire...
...While New Hampshire probably will return a Republican, the seat may fall to the party's conservative wing...
...They may have settled on a candidate in January when Birmingham's Rep...
...the well-known naval officer, John G. Crommelin, is actively campaigning for the nomination...
...Facing some opposition in his own party and a strong Republican contender...
...Kefauver has one opponent of stature, Rep...
...Lester Hunt seems in a fairly good position, despite the 1952 Republican sweep in Wyoming...
...Guy Gillette is also plagued by age, since he is 75, but has indicated that he will seek another term...
Vol. 37 • April 1954 • No. 15
