New Deal wins special vote in Oklahoma
Democratic candidate has lead of 3,642
Muskogee, Oklahoma (UP) –
Democrat William G. Stigler, running under New Deal colors, won the special election in Oklahoma’s traditionally-Democratic 2nd Congressional district yesterday by a margin that approaches 4,000 voters, incomplete and unofficial returns disclosed today.
With returns from all but 12 of the district’s 331 precincts tabulated, the vote stood:
| Stigler (D) | 21,806 |
| Clark (R) | 18,164 |
Only returns from isolated rural districts remained to be reported.
Mr. Stigler’s plurality of 3,642 is being compared with the 380-vote margin by which Democrat Jack Nichols, who later resigned, won the seat in 1942. Clark was also his opponent.
Mr. Stigler’s election gave the Democrats a seven-to-one margin in House members from Oklahoma. Rep. Ross Rizley, of the 8th district, is the only Republican.
A temporary gain
It also strengthened, but only temporarily, the margin of Democratic Party strength in the House. It gave the Democrats 217 seats against 210 for the Republicans and four for minor parties, with four vacancies. But today Rep. Domengeaux (D-LA) resigned to enter the Army, again raising the number of vacancies to five and reducing the number of Democratic seats to 216.
The election was considered a clear-cut test of New Deal sentiment in Oklahoma and was watched closely by political leaders as a possible barometer for the presidential election in November.
National talent called in
The personalities of Mr. Stigler and Mr. Clark, neighbors in Stigler, Oklahoma, were all but submerged by the array of political talent that participated in the campaign.
Senator Alben W. Barkley, Senate Majority Leader, climaxed the campaign for Mr. Stigler while Mr. Clark’s drive was led by Senator E. H. Moore Jr. (R-OK), with the help of Senator W. Lee O’Daniel (D-TX) who urged the voters to “kick out” the New Deal, and the indirect aid of Governor John W. Bricker of Ohio who was also stumping Oklahoma on behalf of how own candidacy for the GOP presidential nomination.