In primaries –
Bay State favors Dewey and Roosevelt
Ely, New Deal critic, lags behind
Boston, Massachusetts (UP) –
Complete unofficial returns from the Massachusetts presidential primary showed today that Democrats elected a slate of delegates largely unpledged but favoring a fourth term for President Roosevelt.
Only six of the 56 Democratic district delegates chosen were pledged to former Governor Joseph B. Ely, anti-New Dealer and fourth term foe, who is a candidate for his party’s presidential nomination in Massachusetts.
In the two Congressional districts where the popularity of New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey was put to a minor test, the pro-Dewey delegates were elected by the Republicans over unpledged opponents.
Roosevelt men happy
Results of the balloting, probably the lightest in Massachusetts history, were hailed by Democratic State Chairman William H. Burke Jr. as a definite Roosevelt fourth term victory. He predicted that within 48 hours Mr. Ely would endorse the President for a fourth term.
However, Mr. Ely said the returns indicated:
Such a substantial cleavage in the party that I should think the vote would serve as a warning to fourth-termers.
Ely is a delegate
Mr. Ely himself was assured a seat at the National Convention since he was one of 12 Democratic delegates-at-large elected without opposition.
The seven-man Republican at-large slate, including Governor Leverett Saltonstall and House Minority Leader Joseph W. Martin Jr. likewise was unopposed.
It was in the 13th Congressional district comprising part of Boston and a Southeastern Massachusetts area, that the Ely forces made their best showing. All four convention seats at stake in that district were won by Ely-pledged candidates: Michael P. Feeney of Boston, Francis J. Carroll of Canton, Clement A. Riley of Norwood and Alice M. Durst of Boston.
Some Ely men trail 4–1
Mr. Ely’s other two delegates were in the 10th district, a Boston-Brookline area. They were Boston City Councilor Michael J. Ward and David J. Brickley of Boston, who ran both as members of the pro-Roosevelt slate presented by the Democratic State Committee, and at the same time endorsed Mr. Ely’s candidacy.
Pro-Ely candidates were entered in a total of seven of the state’s 14 Congressional districts, but trailed in most cases, sometimes by as much as four-to-one.