Editorial: Oklahoma’s byelection
Having lost an uncomfortable number of byelections in the last year, the Democrats have wheeled in their heavy artillery to win the contest in the 2nd Oklahoma Congressional district tomorrow. They have sent no less a personage than Senate Leader Alben W. Barkley to sing the administration’s song at Muskogee tonight.
On the record, the Democrats should win. If they can’t carry that gerrymandered district they might as well quit. In its 30 years of existence the district has gone Republican only one – in the Harding landslide of 1920.
In the last election, 1942, the Democratic nominee for Congress won by only 385 votes. But there were special circumstances which made the Republican vote so large. An unpopular Democratic Senator – Josh Lee – was being voted out of office; and a full Republican slate of candidates for Senator, Governor, other state offices and county and township offices, was on the ticket.
In tomorrow’s contest there are only the candidates for the Congress seat, and Democrat Bill Stigler is better and more favorably known than the Republican, E. O. Clark. There is no such thing in that district as a Republican organization, while the Democrats have state, county and township machines working together.
In good years, the Democrats carry this district by 2–1; in normal years, their majority is about 15,000. If the Democrat wins tomorrow, it will be only what is expected. If the Republican wins, it will be an upset that will reflect more than just a trend.