National Reports: The Election Middle Atlantic
TYLER, GUS
National Reports THE ELECTION MIDDLE ATLANTIC Trend favors Democrats in NY, NJ, Penna By Gus Tyler NEW YORK ALTHOUGH the populous states of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have their...
...The fact is that Lehman, in 1950...
...Although Democrat George Leader is a young, dynamic campaigner, his real strength lies in the dreary economic situation in the Keystone State...
...And, judging by registration, that's exactly what will happen...
...In short, this contiguous bloc of states, representing one-fifth of the national population, is swinging rather decisively away from the Republican party...
...National Reports THE ELECTION MIDDLE ATLANTIC Trend favors Democrats in NY, NJ, Penna By Gus Tyler NEW YORK ALTHOUGH the populous states of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have their political peculiarities, they seem to be moving this year as a unit...
...The increase in Queens registration, as against 1950, reflects merely the mushrooming population??a population which has been turning Queens from a Republican into a Democratic-Liberal borough...
...The fact is that Queens voted for Democrat Herbert Lehman for the Senate in 1949 and again in 1950, gave the combined Liberal-Democratic ticket an overwhelming majority in 1951, and did the same in 1953...
...got 47 per cent of his vote outside New York City...
...Present indications are that New York will elect a Democratic Governor (Averell Harri-an) for the first time in twelve years, Pennsylvania may very well elect a Democratic Governor (State Senator George Leader) for the first time in 20 years, and New Jersey will elect a Democrat (Charles Howell) to the Senate, thus following up last year's election of Democrat Robert Meyner as Governor...
...In recent years, only 1952 ??the Eisenhower year??saw Queens go Republican...
...The Republicans are further handicapped by a fierce internal feud, which has resulted in one state officeholder turning the spotlight of scandal against Governor John Fine's administration...
...Both are recognized to be men of considerable ability and integrity...
...In New Jersey, the key contest is the Senatorial race, with Congressman Charles Howell, Democrat, running against former Congressman Clifford Case, Republican...
...In New York, where the entire state administration is at stake, present indications are that the Republican ticket, headed by Senator Irving Ives, who is seeking the Governorship, is headed for defeat...
...As such, it should reach down into the Congressional contests and give the Democrats two or three extra seats from New York...
...The trend is, from all indications, a party trend, almost totally unconnected with the personalities involved...
...At best, it can win with only the slightest of margins...
...A Democratic victory could also mean a gain of as many as six additional seats in the House of Representatives...
...What weighs against Case is the "trend," the unspeakable record of past Republican corruption in the state (a new chapter breaks into the press almost daily), and the extreme right wing of the GOP??which would rather lose the election than lose control of the party...
...In Pennsylvania, the Democrats have a greater handicap to overcome...
...But Democrats are hopeful that the bitter resentment in the coal fields, where the national recession has for some time been a major depression, will turn out the GOP administration...
...Both men have a sufficiently liberal voting record to have won the approval of the state Americans for Democratic Action...
...As in New York and Pennsylvania, the overall party trend is expected to give the Democrats a couple of extra seats in the House...
...Myth 4: A Democratic statewide ticket must roll up gigantic majorities in New York City to overcome gigantic losses upstate...
...Myth l: A big upstate registration is good for the GOP- The fact is that the only areas called upon to register upstate are those with populations of more than 5,000 (cities and incorporated areas...
...Myth 3: In New York City, the "traditionally Republican" Borough of Queens turned in a heavier increase in registration than the other four boroughs, thereby indicating a GOP trend...
...Coming just a few weeks before Election Day, the latest scandal, involving the extortion of contributions from state employes for political drives,may be just the needed push to carry the Democrats to victory...
...Myth 2: New York City didn't show much interest in this election, judging by registration...
...Both are anti-McCarthy??outspokenly...
...the Republicans have scored huge pluralities in the past...
...This includes Buffalo, Albany, Syracuse, Utica, Rochester and other areas of Democratic strength...
...What the registration figures do show, however, is that in New York City the districts that voted most heavily for Stevenson in 1952 turned out with the highest registration in 1954 and that districts that voted for Eisenhower in 1952 showed the least interest in the election...
...The big turnout this year in Queens is one of the most hopeful signs for the Democrats...
...Early polls, moreover, indicate that Harriman will come out of New York a better than 2-1 victor and will cut Ives's margins upstate to indecisive pluralities...
...This fairly obvious fact has been somewhat obscured for the literate public by popular interpretations of the registration figures, built on myth and ignorance...
...some ten districts are closely contested...
...The fact is that New York could be expected to turn out between 47 and 48 per cent of the statewide vote, on the basis of population trends...
...This party trend extends into Pennsylvania and New Jersey, too...
Vol. 37 • October 1954 • No. 43
