Decision 1944! ROOSEVELT WINS!

[NormanStewart]

The Los Angeles Times (November 7, 1944)

Last-minute efforts may decide state

Parties’ activities in getting people to polls called vital

Reaching a neck-and-neck climax in California today, the outcome the presidential contest in this state between Governor Dewey and President Roosevelt – known to be close throughout the nation – was expected to hinge upon the respective get-out-the-vote activities of the Republican and Democratic campaign field workers.

Anticipating a total state vote in excess of 3,000,000 – approximately 84 percent of the combined registration of 4,141,331 – leaders on both sides of the presidential race claimed California’s 25 electoral votes by varying estimated majorities.

Both sides confident

For the Democratic side the assertion was made that President Roosevelt will win his fourth-term bid here by a majority of 500,000.

And from Republican headquarters here and in San Francisco, a Dewey victory ranging between 100,000 and 200,000 was predicted.

Election of Lieutenant Governor Frederick F. Houser to the U.S. Senate in a substantial win over the incumbent Democrat, Sheridan Downey

Watch House race

With 13 of the state’s 23 members in the national House of Representatives wearing the

Clear weather was generally anticipated throughout California today. The polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. PWT.

Republican hopes for victory in the presidential contest were pinned on a “trend-to-Dewey” sentiment among registered Democrats which, in the opinion of GOP leaders, has been accelerated during the concluding weeks of the campaign.

Heavy ballot seen

Here is Los Angeles, where the total registration Democrats number 1,047,748, and registered Republicans, 640,042, Registrar of Voters Mike Donoghue believes more than 1,500,000 ballots will be cast.

Absentee ballots from the state’s sailors, soldiers and Marines, not to be tabulated until Nov. 23, may determine the Electoral College vote of California if pre-election indications of a close finish are borne out by actual balloting.

More than 285,000 absentee ballots have been requested and these are now being returned at a rate which promises a total return considerably in excess of 50 percent of the requests.

Of the 185,797 absentee ballots sent to California men and women in the Armed Forces from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Alameda and San Diego counties – the state’s four most populous centers – 98,595 have already been returned as already voted, according to announcement in Sacramento yesterday by Secretary of State Frank M. Jordan.

By counties, the requests and returns are as follows: Los Angeles, 113,750 requests, 61,703 voted; San Francisco, 34,500 requests, 14,532 voted; Alameda, 22,920 requests, 13,127 voted; San Diego, 14,807 requests, 9,213 voted.

An additional 19,000 federal ballots have been received from statewide areas, Jordan said.

Public offices, banks and stock exchanges will be closed today. No liquor may be sold or given away during voting hours.

Record registration

From Governor Warren down through every division of the Republican and Democratic campaign organizations came a concerted appeal yesterday for a record turnout of voters.

Calling attention to the fact that California’s total registration this year is the greatest in the state’s existence, Governor Warren told the electorate that:

We should enter upon Election Day with the determination that our state will produce the greatest vote total, the greatest example of public participation in government, in its history.

Don’t stay at home

Raymond Haight, Republican National Committeeman for California, asserted that extensive polls of political sentiment throughout California “distinctly show that the Republican candidates will win all along the line if our people go to the polls.”

He made the flat statement that “what we fear most now is the stay-at-home registrant in both major parties.”

Should the actual balloting on the presidential race in California closely coincide with the pre-election polls, Haight said, “Dewey will be the next President of the United States.”

[NormanStewart]

Victory claimed by both chairmen

By the Associated Press

Both major party chairmen see victory today for their national tickets.

Republican Chairman Brownell:

I cannot concede a single state outside the Solid South. It will be a sweeping Republican victory.

Democratic Chairman Hannegan:

Dewey will carry fewer states than Willkie four years ago.

Willkie won 10 states with an electoral vote of 82.

[NormanStewart]

The Chicago Daily Tribune (November 7, 1944)

Illinois to cast big vote; GOP strength shows

Expect Green and Lyons to lead Dewey
By Arthur Evans

A total vote in Illinois that may equal and perhaps exceed the 4,262,196 of 1940 is looked for by Republican and Democratic leaders as the campaign goes to the polls today.

Governor Green, running for a second term, will lead the Republican ticket in the vote. County canvasses and straw votes indicate that both the governor and Richard J. Lyons, candidate for U.S. Senator, will lead Governor Dewey, head of the ticket.

The ancient lines of battle are tightened between Chicago, home of the Democratic machine, and downstate Illinois, overwhelmingly Republican.

Downstate estimate raised

Republican statisticians, after a final canvass of county chairmen throughout the state as to the indicated size of the majorities in their counties, raised their estimates of downstate strength. They said their calculations indicate that Dewey will come up to the Cook County lune 350,000 votes ahead of President Roosevelt. Green and Lyins are given a somewhat higher figure in the estimates.

With the country towns od Chicagoland traditionally Republican, the downstate margins will be increased.

Roosevelt is expected to run ahead of Senator Lucas, candidate for reelection. Lucas is opposed by Lyons, his antagonist six years ago. The President is also expected to be ahead of State Attorney Courtney, opponent of Governor Green.

What Roosevelt’s majority in Chicago will be is the problem. It is accentuated this year by the registration and the shifts in population it involves. Republicans said Roosevelt could carry Chicago by 400,000, which they do not deem likely, and still be overthrown by the net combined Republican majorities in the area outside Chicago, which means the 101 counties downstate and the Cook County suburbs.

Registry list grows

Total registration this year is 4,561,410. An increase od 196,033 is Cook County over the 1940 registry lists, largely in war plant areas, now shows the county with 380,350 more registered voters than are on the books in the 101 downstate counties. Cook County has 2,470,880; the remainder of the state, 2,090,530.

Republicans declare the downstate registry will be increased by voters in that area who may vote by affidavit as of old. A large population of the Chicago and Cook County increase results from the fact that people from downstate have moved to war plant jobs, but they have not changed their political views.

Four years ago, Roosevelt had a majority of 281,822 in Chicago, which was a drop from his 1936 majority of 555,286. Straw votes this year give him a smaller percentage of the Chicago vote than the 58.3 percent he had in 1940. Downstate straw votes and county canvasses show Dewey with a percentage notable higher than that of Willkie four years ago, and also with a higher percentage in the Cook County towns.

Soldier vote to be counted

The soldier vote, one of the imponderables in the election, is to be counted with the civilian vote. When the polls close, it is placed in the ballot boxes and the count starts, with the absentee vote supposed to be indistinguishable from the civilian. Theories on both sides are that the soldier vote will not vary much from the civilian.

It was expected to total about 250,000, but reports last night were that it may not exceed 210,000. Fewer ballots were received downstate, it was said, than were at first estimated.

One matter not to be overlooked is the difference in strength this year between the party organizations. In 1940, the Democrats had the state administration. This year, the Republicans have it, while also in a growing majority of the counties, Republicans hold the bulk of the elective offices, and organizations have been built up.

In final forecasts from the rival camps, the Republicans predicted a majority as high as 250,000 for Dewey; the Democrats estimated that President Roosevelt would “materially increase” his plurality of 102,000 out of 4,262,196 votes cast in 1940.

[NormanStewart]

The Pittsburgh Press (November 7, 1944)

Big cities cast record vote

War workers crowd polls; strong rural balloting indicated
By Lyle C. Wilson, United Press staff correspondent

New York –
Some of the heaviest voting in history, despite the absence of men in the Armed Forces, was reported today from industrial centers of this nation which is choosing between Franklin D. Roosevelt and Thomas E. Dewey in the first wartime presidential election since 1864.

War workers crowded the polls in New York, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Nashville, Houston, Dallas and other cities as soon as the voting places opened. Fair weather over most of the country was also expected to bring out a strong rural vote.

First returns came from the rural Nutbush precinct of Vance County, North Carolina, where the 21 registered voters cast their ballots unanimously for President Roosevelt, and from Mashpee, Massachusetts, where complete returns gave Roosevelt 81 votes and Dewey 89.

Boston reported the total vote running ahead of 1940 throughout New England, particularly in the industrial areas.

Detroit officials estimated that city would poll 700,000 votes compared to 584,000 four years ago. An estimated 212,000 had voted by noon.

Watchers in Philadelphia reported “very heavy” voting in both the industrial and residential sections. Industrialized Chester, Pennsylvania, was piling up its heaviest vote in history, and some Pittsburgh totals were running ahead of 1940.

In New York City’s Brooklyn Borough, an estimated 500,000 of the 1,121,053 registered voters had cast their ballots by noon.

The first 50 votes counted in Pratt City, Kansas, traditionally a Republican stronghold, gave Dewey 27, Roosevelt 23.

Despite scattered rains in the west, early voting was exceptionally heavy in Colorado and Utah.

Kansas City was having its biggest rush to the polls in many years and some precincts were half voted by 9:00 a.m. The total was expected to be far ahead of 1940.

Several Texas cities, including Fort Worth, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, Longview and Wichita Falls, were expected to set new voting records.

Oklahoma war workers rushed to the polls early and in midmorning the vote was running ahead of 1940.

Indianapolis reported light voting in the industrial sections but nearby rural areas, predominantly Republican, were piling up an unprecedented vote.

In San Francisco, approximately 40,000 – approximately 10 percent of the registered voters – cast their ballots the first hour.

The Maryland vote was very heavy and ahead of 1940.

In Oregon, observers believed the vote would exceed that of 1940 despite 10,000 fewer registrations.

A record number of women’s votes was piling up in Buffalo, New York, and surrounding Erie County.

Voting enthusiasm was reported high in North Carolina, Georgia and other Southern states despite the fact that Mr. Roosevelt was generally conceded the Solid South Lines of voters awaited the opening of the polls in Atlanta, Nashville, Birmingham and New Orleans.

Bricker votes early

First of the Election Day principals to vote was Ohio Governor John W. Bricker, the Republican vice-presidential nominee. He became the 111th voter to receive a ballot in his Columbus, Ohio, precinct.

Throughout the country, citizens were exercising their secret ballot rights in 140,498 voting precincts.

It is a rare and rigid test of our democracy. The men and women of the armed services have been voting for weeks and most of their ballots are sealed, waiting for the polls to be closed before being tallied.

Polltakers foresee the closest presidential contest since 1916 when Republican Charles Evans Hughes lost by a whisker to Democrat Woodrow Wilson.

Many states doubtful

A score of states are listed as close or doubtful. The absentee service vote may be decisive in any of them, including big New York and Pennsylvania.

The winner needs at least 266 of the 531 electoral votes.

National Democratic Chairman Robert E. Hannegan predicted that Mr. Roosevelt would do better than he did in 1940 when he carried 38 states.

National Republican Chairman Herbert Brownell Jr. said not only that Governor Dewey would be elected but that Republicans would not “concede a single state outside the Solid South.”

11 states delay count

State laws have already assured that the service vote will be delayed in 11 states. In any photo-finish election this year the winner conceivably might not be known until the last of the late-tally states have been reported. The last is North Dakota which makes its final service ballot count Dec. 7.

Officials estimate that 4,894,225 service ballots were distributed and that 2,856,993 will be returned for counting.

New York has already announced that 411,128 service ballots had been received by the statutory state deadline which was yesterday noon.

In many states, including New York, the potential soldier vote exceeds the number by which Mr. Roosevelt led the late Wendell L. Willkie in 1940.

States postponing tally

States in which the service ballot count will be delayed for various lengths of time are California, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah and Washington. They aggregate 123 electoral votes.

in addition to the Presidency and Vice Presidency, this election will choose 432 members of the House of Representatives, 36 U.S. Senators, 31 governors and literally thousands of lesser officials. One of the 36 Senate seats is for a meaningless two-month term which expires with the present 78th Congress next Jan. 3.

Maine elected its three members of the House – all Republicans – and a Republican Governor last September. There was no 1944 senatorial election in Maine.

Both candidates speak

The campaign finally ended last night shortly before midnight with both presidential candidates on the radio in last-minute appeals, which primarily were for all eligible citizens to get to the polls today. Mr. Dewey is voting in New York City. Mr. Roosevelt will vote in Hyde Park.

The President to be elected today and the new 79th Congress will determine domestic and foreign policies for the next two years when there will be another election – this time with Congressional seats the only federal jobs at stake.

Democrats have nominal control of both Senate and House as the ballots are cast today. But, actually, an anti-New Deal coalition of Republicans and Democrats has been dominant on Capitol Hill for the last two years – and occasionally before that.

Standings listed

Here are the standings as of today:

SENATE: Democrats 58; Republicans 37; Progressives 1.

HOUSE: Democrats 214; Republicans 212; Progressives 2; Farmer-Labor 1; American-Labor 1; vacant 5.

Safe Southern states among those at stake today assure continued numerical superiority in the Senate for the Democratic Party, although administration control will continue to be in jeopardy. But Republicans insist that they will win the House this year. It is conceded that they have brighter prospects now than at any time since Mr. Roosevelt became the Democratic leader.

House may go GOP

One of the side issues of this campaign has been the possibility that the President, in a close contest, might squeak through but that the House would go Republican. In that event, Mr. Roosevelt would have to deal with Republicans if he would deal with the House at all.

Political morality, individual veracity and age have fired this campaign with bitter issues. Mr. Dewey’s challenge to the “tired and quarrelsome old men” has aroused Mr. Roosevelt’s supporters to ridicule the Governor’s youth.

Mr. Roosevelt is 62 and Mr. Dewey is 20 years younger. Senator Harry S. Truman (D-MO), who was nominated as Mr. Roosevelt’s running mate after the President decided Henry A. Wallace might be a political liability, is 60 years old. Ohio Governor John W. Bricker runs with Mr. Dewey. He is 51.

[NormanStewart]

BALLOTING HEAVY IN DISTRICT
1940 records likely to fall in county

Both parties pleased with huge turnout
By Kermit McFarland

Voting throughout Allegheny County was uniformly heavy today as Pennsylvania electors took the center of the stage in the nation’s second wartime election in history.

The turnout of voters by early afternoon was exceptionally big, in many cases surpassing the vote at the same stage of the polling four years ago.

Some political leaders said they believed the record turnout of 1940 would be broken by the time the polls close at 8:00 p.m. EWT.

Both sides pleased

The extraordinary outpouring of voters held up in both industrial and residential areas, indicating an equal interest in the election by both sides of the political fence.

Both the Republican and Democratic headquarters were highly pleased with the turnout.

On the South Side, for instance, 20 percent of the registered vote had been polled shortly after 10:00 a.m.

Mt. Lebanon and Dormont districts reported the voters were streaming to the polls at the rate of a hundred an hour.

In a Brookline district, they were voting at the rate of more than two a minute.

Similar reports were obtained from representative districts throughout the county.

Women urged to vote early

In the mill districts, party workers concentrated on getting women voters to the polls before 3:00 p.m. when the heavy turnout of industrial workers was expected to begin.

Except for a mix-up over registration cards for voters who changed addresses recently, there were no reports of disturbances or serious confusion. Two additional telephones were installed at the Pittsburgh Registration Commission to handle complaints from voters whose cards had been mistakenly sent to the wrong polling places.

Twenty State Police were assigned here for possible emergencies, They had seen no action early this afternoon.

The police, under Capt. A. J. Hudak of the Greensburg Barracks, made their headquarters in the office of Sheriff Robert J. Corbett.

With fair, mild weather favoring the voter turnout, the polls were opened at 7:00 a.m. Long queues of electors already were on hand in most districts to cast their ballots.

Poll workers from the rival political parties turned out in droves at an early hour. Democratic and Republican organization forces were augmented in some districts by representatives of the C1O Political Action Committee.

The big job of the day was to get out the vote and both sides believed a heavy turnout would benefit their cause.

The courts will be open until 10:00 p.m. to hear election complaints.

Two judges, John J. Kennedy and William H. McNaugher, have been assigned to make themselves available for court action if necessary during the night while the count is proceeding.

State registration high

More than 4,600,000 Pennsylvania voters are registered, not including thousands in the armed forces who were sent military ballots without the formality of registering. More than 640,000 were sent military ballots and some 220,000 have already been returned, although the deadline is not until Nov. 22.

Upwards of 80 percent of the registered vote was expected at Pennsylvania’s 8,208 polling places. In Allegheny County, there were 1,024 polling places to accommodate an expected voter turnout which might reach nearly 650,000.

At stake are Pennsylvania’s 35 votes in the Electoral College on which many political observers believe the national election may hinge.

11th-hour appeals made

Four years ago, President Roosevelt carried the state by 261,000 over the late Wendell L. Willkie, Republican candidate. This plurality was exactly identical to the combined pluralities Mr. Roosevelt received in Allegheny County and Philadelphia.

Last-minute appeals to the voters were delivered by party leaders and candidates last night, the principal speeches in Pennsylvania being those of the two head men, Democratic State Chairman David L. Lawrence and Governor Edward Martin, speaking for the Republicans.

Mr. Martin said:

If the New Dealers are returned to power, there is no reason to believe they will not resume with new fury their bitter and vicious attacks upon the American enterprise system. There is every reason to believe they will. They want to “make America over.” They have said so again and again and again.

GOP ‘lies’ denounced

Predicting the state today would “break the back of the Dewey campaign,” Mr. Lawrence charged the Republicans have thrown into this “Roosevelt fortress every weapon they could find.”

Republican lies have been more vicious and more shameless here. Republican newspapers have been deeper dipped in venom here. Republican money has been raised – and spent – more lavishly here.

Mr. Lawrence said Pennsylvania is recognized as a “pivotal, crucial” state and that Mr. Dewey “cannot hope to win without it.”

Martin hits ‘ballot slackers’

Governor Martin urged every voter to go to the polls.

He said:

A ballot slacker is not a true patriot. By his actions, he shows that he does not Care what becomes of his country. Too much depends upon the results of tomorrow’s election for any man or women who is able to go to the polls to neglect that duty and that responsibility.

Only the ballot slackers can defeat the party of Americanism. Remember: The stay-at-home vote defeated Wendell Willkie in 1940.

[NormanStewart]

ELECTION BULLETINS

Dewey 29, Roosevelt 8, in Massachusetts town

Mount Washington, Massachusetts –
Mount Washington, the first Massachusetts town to report complete returns, today gave: Roosevelt 8, Dewey 29. In 1940, the town gave Roosevelt 10, Willkie 32.

Dewey votes in New York City

New York –
Governor Thomas E. Dewey voted today as “Thomas Edmund Dewey, New York, lawyer.” He voted at a polling place, just three blocks from his legal residence in the Roosevelt Hotel. Approximately 100 persons waiting in line to vote, gave him a round of applause.

Chickasha puts Dewey in lead

Chickasha, Oklahoma –
The first 58 votes counted in a Chickasha precinct today gave: Dewey 35, Roosevelt 28.

‘Tree grower’ Roosevelt casts vote

Hyde Park, New York –
“Tree Grower” Franklin D. Roosevelt voted for Franklin D. Roosevelt for president today for the fourth time. He cast his vote in the old Hyde Park Town Hall where he made his first political speech in 1910. Mr. Roosevelt drove from his home with his family in an open touring car.

Early West Virginia returns

Charleston, West Virginia –
Here are some early, and incomplete, returns from West Virginia: From 10 precincts in Beckley; of 1551 votes already cast, 724 were for Roosevelt; 417 for Dewey. From one precinct in Pt. Pleasant, Roosevelt 28, Dewey 61. From one precinct at Wilsonburg, Harrison County, five for Roosevelt, 20 for Dewey. From two Charleston precincts, 62 for Roosevelt, 108 for Dewey. From a Kanawha County precinct, 25 for Roosevelt, 55 for Dewey. From two Ohio County precincts: 38 for Roosevelt, 258 for Dewey.

Dewey early leader in Kansas City

Kansas City, Kansas –
Early returns from 26 scattered precincts today gave President Roosevelt 901 votes against 1,084 for Dewey. The first 10 precincts reporting here gave the President 269 votes and Dewey 244. These same precincts went three to two for Roosevelt in 1940.

Oklahoma town favoring Roosevelt

Duncan, Oklahoma –
Unofficial, incomplete returns from five Duncan, Oklahoma, precincts today gave: Roosevelt 250, Dewey 91. Complete returns from the same five boxes in 1940 gave: Roosevelt 986, Willkie 444.

Republican lead cut down

New Ashford, Massachusetts –
New Ashford, formerly the first town in the nation to report its returns in presidential elections, today gave: Roosevelt 21, Dewey 22. In 1940, the town gave Roosevelt 13, Willkie 33.

Roosevelt gains one, so does GOP

Hart’s Location, New Hampshire –
This hamlet, first in New Hampshire to report its returns today, gave Roosevelt 6 and Dewey 4. In 1940, it gave Roosevelt 5 and Willkie 3.

[NormanStewart]

Editorial: Be sure to vote early!

Polls will be open until 8 o’clock tonight.

Because of heavy voting there may be a last-minute rush; therefore, we urge you to vote just as early as possible.

All polls and forecasts indicate that Pennsylvania is a crucial state and that the result here may have a vital hearing on the national election.

Therefore it is unusually essential that all citizens vote.

Don’t forget that the machine vote, the controlled vote, the Communist vote and the intimidated vote is always cast – but many citizens of other groups chronically fail to cast their ballots.

Don’t be among the non-voters. Perform the highest function of citizenship by casting your ballot – and do so as early as possible.

[NormanStewart]

Odds on Roosevelt

St. Louis, Missouri –
The books of James J. Carroll, St. Louis betting commissioner, today read President Roosevelt as the favorite with odds of 1–3 while Governor Thomas Dewey’s odds are 2½–1.

[NormanStewart]

I DARE SAY —
That Yankee tempo!

By Florence Fisher Parry

It won’t be long now. The suspense is awful – much worse, I think, than in 1940. But now that the tumult and the shouting have died down, one thing stands out clear. We are a far more nervous, impatient and quick-tempered people than we’ve ever realized before.

The strain and suspense, the fear and uncertainty which the war has put upon us, is telling in our tempers. Our control is wearing a little thin. Not that we haven’t always been an impatient people. Our tempo has always been quicker than others’. There’s something within us that clicks faster than in any other people. We have fewer processes; we have quicker arrivals. We get there. We cut corners to get there. There’s an urgent pulse in us not to be found in other people.

It’s in our speech. It’s in our very walk. It’s a certain wiry, nervous, irritable drive. It ties up with our very chemistry. We catch on faster than other people. That’s why our speech is so vivid and explicit. That’s why we need slang and use it so much and are always adding to it, and condense in a word, in a phrase, what “Regular” English would require whole long sentences to convey.

Quick on the trigger

And because we’re geared high, and because of our nervous, accelerated tempo, we get there first, whatever the goal. Never has this American attribute stood out so markedly as during this present campaign. I would say that there has not been a campaign speech made by anyone that the listening audience hasn’t been way ahead of the speaker! That’s why our speakers have had such a tough time keeping back the applause until they’ve made their point. That’s because their audiences get the point almost before the poor speaker has had a chance to begin his sentence!

Now there’s been a lot of talk about how the President’s delivery has slowed down lately, how very, very different it is since even four years ago. Frankly, I suspect that it isn’t so much that the President has slowed down so much as if is that we have stepped up so much.

All this being so, it is amazing that it has not been recognized more successfully by the motion picture producers and directors. For in direct ratio to the stepping-up of our national tempo has been the motion picture producers’ tendency to make longer movies and longer drawn-out sequences.

In the last month, I have seen half a dozen movies that have worn me out, in something the same way that one is worn out it one has to walk with someone who has to move very, very slowly.

Now I am going to name some of these pictures: Since You Went Away, Going My Way, Casanova Brown, The Seventh Cross. These come most quickly to mind. It seemed to me as though they would never end!

Some of them were very good pictures indeed, or would have been if they’d been stepped-up in their pace and cut in their contents.

The same thing occurs in our public functions. There have been innumerable luncheons and banquets and meetings im town lately, designed to promote some of the worthiest causes that have ever enlisted our support. Yet in nearly every case the function was simply too long! The other day I sat for four solid hours at a luncheon, first eating and then listening to the speakers.

That’s America

We’re always hearing about the graces, the leisures and the ampler, richer ways of life which have been adopted by our charming neighbors, the South Americans; by our charming Allies, the English; by our new and interesting Allies, the Russians; by our ingratiating Allies, the Chinese. All these others (we crude, unschooled and unaged Americans are told) have discovered the secret of leisurely living, and we are adjured to take example from them.

Now with all due respect to these estimable friends and neighbors, and with due regard for their more – shall we say? – civilized mode of life, I attest: Our quick, hasty, nervous, restless, American tempo suits us best. It’s our very makeup. We burn up energy needlessly. We scorch our highways with speed-burning tires. We run when we could walk. We stand when we could sit. We talk when we could be silent. We get mad when we could be calm.

We’re a fast steppin’, quick thinkin’ dynamo. We’re America! We want to get a move on!

[NormanStewart]

Gubernatorial races test major parties

Voters in 31 states to name executives

New York (UP) –
Voters in 31 states today were deciding major political party strength in state governments which have been edging toward Republicanism in recent elections.

Last ditch battles, which may determine the GOP’s state prowess for the next two years, were underway in Massachusetts, Connecticut, North Dakota, Idaho, Colorado and Utah.

Less doubtful, but by no means assured early today, were the results of elections in Indiana, Washington and Tennessee.

Republicans, with holdover governors in New York, New Jersey, Maine (elected in September), Pennsylvania, Kentucky, California and Oregon, were virtually certain of victories in Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin.

If, as Republicans were predicting, Washington stayed in the GOP camp, their total would be at least 21.

Sure of nine states

The Democratic Party was sure of nine states – Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Texas and West Virginia – to add to its holdover strength in 10 states: Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, South Carolina, Virginia, Wyoming and Oklahoma.

They expected, also, to capture Indiana and Tennessee for a total of 21, thereby putting the emphasis for a balance of power in the six other contests.

Two doubtful in East

Massachusetts and Connecticut were the only doubtful states in the east, while other heated battles were limited primarily to the western regions.

In the Bay State, where Boston’s Democratic mayor, Maurice J. Tobin, was neck-and-neck with Lieutenant Governor Horace T. Cahill, observers weighed Mr. Cahill’s chances in the light of the strength he derives as a party mate of the popular governor, Leverett Saltonstall, who is assured of a seat in the U.S. Senate.

Governor Raymond E. Baldwin, one of 12 Republicans seeking re-election, was vigorously fighting in Connecticut against former Democratic Governor Robert A. Hurley, who was swept into office on President Roosevelt’s coattails in 1940 and was beaten by Mr. Baldwin in 1942.

Experts favor Jackson

In Indiana, Democratic Senator Samuel D. Jackson was matched against a strong Republican candidate, Ralph Gates. The present governor, Henry F. Schricker, was a sensational contender. Both candidates had strong support in industrial districts. Political observers conceded the likelihood of a Democratic state victory even if Indiana went for Dewey.

Although not in the close category, the Ohio gubernatorial election attracted attention. It pitted Cleveland’s Democratic mayor, Frank J. Lausche – who was expected to win – against another municipal chief, Republican James G. Stewart of Cincinnati. Mr. Lausche, who bucked the Democratic State organization in his mayoral fight and who was opposed by the American Federation of Labor, was a 9–5 favorite in betting circles.

Gubernatorial contests in Colorado and Idaho, both Republican, and in North Dakota and Utah, both Democratic, were expected to be decided by the vote for the presidential candidates.

Tight contest assured

The Washington battle, which appeared to lean to the incumbent, Republican Arthur B. Langlie, was marked by the stiff opposition of Democratic Senator Mon C. Wallgren.

In addition to Governor Baldwin and Governor Langlie, 10 Republicans were seeking reelection: John C. Vivian of Colorado, Walter W. Bacon of Delaware, Dwight H. Green of Illinois, Andrew F. Schoeppel of Kansas, Harry F. Kelly of Michigan, Edward J Thye of Minnesota, Sam C. Ford of Montana, Dwight Griswold of Nebraska, M. Q. Sharpe of South Dakota and Walter S. Goodland of Wisconsin.

Democratic repeaters – all deemed safe – were Sidney P. Osborn of Arizona, J. J. Dempsey of New Mexico, J. Howard McGrath of Rhode Island, Coke R. Stevenson of Texas and Herbert B. Maw of Utah.

Fourteen states had third-party candidates, none of whom were considered serious contenders. Michigan had Prohibitionist, Socialist, Socialist-Labor and America First candidates.

[NormanStewart]

New ‘league’ at stake in Senator vote

36 to be elected; could block treaty

New York (UP) –
Thirty-six U.S. Senators – three more than the 33 whose adverse votes could block a treaty – will be selected by the voters today.

Voters in 34 states will cast their ballots in perhaps the most crucial senatorial elections since 1918, when victories at the polls for isolationists foredoomed U.S. participation in Woodrow Wilson’s League of Nations.

At stake this time is a new “league” – the Dumbarton Oaks agreement for a world organization.

Will decide faith

The men elected tomorrow, plus the incumbent Senate members who are not running this time, will decide is fate sometime next year.

Expected to win without difficulty are the following candidates:

Senators Lister Hill (D-AL), Carl Hayden (D-AZ), Claude Pepper (D-FL), Millard E. Tydings (D-MD), Walter F, George (D-GA) (no opposition), John H. Overton (D-LA) (no opposition), Pat McCarran (D-NV), Eugene D. Milliken (R-CO), Clyde M. Reed (R-KS), Charles W. Tobey (R-NH), Chan Gurney (R-SD), George D. Aiken (R-VT), and Alexander Wiley (R-WI).

Rep. J. Wilham Fulbright (D-AR) was nominated for Senator by an overwhelming majority in the primaries, and is conceded election, as is popular Republican Governor Leverett Saltonstall of Massachusetts. Democratic Gov. Olin D. Johnston won the South Carolina senatorial nomination in the primaries.

Favored in close fights

Facing stiff opposition, but given a better-than-even chance for victory by most observers, are: Senators Robert A. Taft (R-OH), Alben W. Barkley (D-KY), Guy Cordon (R-OR), and James J. Davis (R-PA).

Wayne L. Morse, former member of the National War Labor Board and liberal Republican candidate for Senator from Oregon, is generally conceded to be leading his Democratic opponent, Edgar W. Smith, in the home stretch.

The hottest senatorial fight of the lot is in North Dakota, where isolationist Republican Senator Gerald P. Nye is engaged in a three-way scramble for votes with Democratic Governor John Moses and Independent Lynn U. Stambaugh.

May go either war

Hotly contested races, which may tip one way or the other according to the presidential results in the respective states, include:

Connecticut, where Republican Senator John A. Danaher is opposed by Democrat Brien McMahon; California, where Democrat Sheridan Downey is running against Lieutenant Governor Frederick H. Houser; Illinois, where Democratic Senator Scott W. Lucas faces Republican Richard J. Lyons; New York, where Democratic Senator Robert F. Wagner is opposed by Republican Thomas J. Curran; Utah where Democratic Senator Elbert D. Thomas faces Republican Adam S. Bennion; and Oklahoma, where Democratic Senator Elmer Thomas is opposed by Republican William J. Otjen.

Seesaw races

Also in the seesaw category are Idaho, where Republican Governor C. A. Bottolfsen is contesting with Democratic Glen H. Taylor for the seat left vacant by the primary defeat of Democratic Senator D. Worth Clark, and Washington, where Democratic Rep. Warren G. Magnuson is running against Republican Lt. Col. Harry P. Cain for the seat left vacant by the resignation of Democratic Senator Homer T. Bone to be a judge of the Ninth Circuit Court.

In Indiana, where Democratic Governor Henry F. Schricker is running against Republican Homer E. Capehart, the outcome is also believed to hinge on the presidential results in the state. Also in Indiana, Democratic Cornelius O’Brien and Republican William E. Jenner are contending for the short term which runs from Nov. 7 to Jan. 3 of next year.

Missouri and New Jersey complete the list of states where the senatorial outcome may depend on whether Governor Dewey or Mr. Roosevelt wins the presidential electoral vote. In Missouri, Democrat Roy McKittrick faces Republican Governor Forrest C. Donnell, while in New Jersey Democratic Rep. Elmer H. Wene is opposed by Republican H. Alexander Smith.

In Iowa, Democratic Senator Guy M. Gillette is running against Republican Governor Bourke B. Hickenlooper. Senator Gillette’s chances for reelection in heavily-Republican Iowa are considered slight.

[NormanStewart]

GOP hopes to control House

New York (UP) –
Today’s election determines which major party will organize the House of Representatives and assume responsibility for vital tax and appropriations legislation in the next two fateful years.

Whether the war is cleaned up on both sides of the world in that time or whether the next election will find the Pacific War still to be won, the new House is certain to face great and difficult decisions in those fields of legislation which it only can initiate – taxation and appropriations.

Republicans claim that when the votes are counted, they will have won a majority of House seats. They have contended all along that this year they had their best chance since the Hoover administration of capturing House control. Democrats dispute this claim.

Neither has majority

Neither big party now has a majority in the House. To achieve a bare majority, one of them must win at least 218 of the 435 seats. The present lineup is 214 Democrats, 212 Republicans and four minority party members, with five vacancies.

The pre-polling indications were that many of the Congressional races would be close. Only 60 candidates are unopposed. House battles receiving a sizeable share of national interest included:

• Rep. Hamilton Fish Jr. (R-NY) vs. Augustus W. Bennet (nominee of the Democratic, American Labor, Good Government and Liberal parties). The issue: Fish’s pre-Pearl Harbor isolationism.

• Rep. Stephen A. Day (R-IL) vs. Democrat Emily Taft Douglas. Mr. Day was supported by the Chicago Tribune and the issue was the same as in Fish’s case.

• Rep. Clare Boothe Luce (R-CT) vs. Democrat Margaret E. Connors, and Socialist Stanley W. Mayhew. Miss Connors has campaigned on a promise to cooperate with President Roosevelt’s programs if they both win.

• House Republican leader Joseph W. Martin Jr. (R-MA) vs. Democrat Edmond P. Talbot. The Democrats have been claiming that the veteran Mr. Martin “has a race on his hands.”

• Rep. Andrew J. May (D-KY) vs. Republican Elmer E. Tabbard. Republicans think Mr. Tabbard may win.

• Rep. Usher L. Burdick (R-ND) vs. Republican Charles R. Robertson and Democrat J. L. Kennedy. Mr. Burdick sought the Republican nomination for Senator against Senator Gerald P. Nye and lost. He is seeking reelection to the House as an Independent Republican.

• Hal Styles (D-CA) vs. Republican Gordon L. McDonough. Mr. Styles defeated Rep. John Costello for the Democratic nomination. In the campaign, the charge of membership in the Ku Klux Klan was raised against Styles, and Republicans assert Mr. McDonough is in.

Martin’s ambition

If the Republicans recapture the House control which they lost after the 1930 election, and if Mr. Martin survives the race with Mr. Talbot, he will become Speaker to succeed Sam Rayburn of Texas.

In all his years as Republican leader, Mr. Martin has had but one ambition – to become Speaker. After the 1940 presidential campaign, Mr. Martin quickly scotched reports that he might be available as a presidential candidate in 1944. He told newspapermen then that he’d rather be Speaker than President.

If the present ranking Republican members are reelected and the party wins a House majority, new chairmen of the more important committees would be:

WAYS AND MEANS: Harold Knutson of Minnesota, succeeding Robert L. Doughton (D-NC).
APPROPRIATIONS: John Taber of New York, succeeding Clarence Cannon (D-MO).
FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Charles A. Eaton of New Jersey, succeeding Sol Bloom (D-NY).
MILITARY AFFAIRS: Walter G. Andrews of New York, succeeding Andrew J. May (D-KY).
NAVAL AFFAIRS: Melvin J. Maas of Minnesota, succeeding Carl Vinson (D-GA).
RULES: Hamilton Fish Jr. of New York, succeeding Adolph J. Sabath (D-IL).
BANKING AND CURRENCY: Jesse P. Wolcott of Michigan, succeeding Brent Spence (D-KY).

[NormanStewart]

Roosevelt’s Boston speech irks Ely

Boston, Massachusetts (UP) –
Democratic former Governor Joseph B. Ely of Massachusetts, an anti-fourth-term candidate for the party’s presidential nomination this year, charged today that President Roosevelt has attempted “to wrap around himself the mantle of a Great American, Alfred E. Smith.”

Mr. Ely, who nominated the “Happy Warrior” for President at the 1932 Democratic national convention. declared that Mr. Roosevelt injected Mr. Smith’s name in his final major campaign speech Saturday night “for the obvious purpose of luring to his support men and women who loved Al Smith.”

The President blocked Al Smith’s nomination in 1932, Mr. Ely charged, and consistently ignored his advice on matters of policy.

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Election facts at a glance

New York (UP) –
Voters today are electing: President, Vice President, 36 U.S. Senators, 432 members of the House of Representatives, 31 Governors and thousands of state and local officials.

Candidates for President and Vice President are:
DEMOCRATIC: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman.
REPUBLICAN: Thomas E. Dewey and John W. Bricker.
SOCIALIST: Norman Thomas and Darlington Hoopes.
SOCIALIST-LABOR: Edward A. Teichert and Arla A. Albaugh.
PROHIBITION: Claude A. Watson and Andrew Johnson.
AMERICA FIRST: Gerald L. K. Smith and Harry Romer.

[NormanStewart]

Indiana squabbles over vote order

Indianapolis, Indiana (UP) –
The Indiana election board today instructed its 92 county boards to allow unlisted voters to cast ballots merely by showing their registration receipts and signing affidavits.

Attorney General James A. Emmert, Republican candidate for reelection, promptly charged the Democrats were attempting to “steal” the election and advised the county boards to disregard the state board orders.

He charged that the instructions are “a clear violation of law” and “open the door for the grossest kind of election frauds.”

Governor Henry F. Schricker, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senator, and David M. Lewis Jr., Democratic member of the election board, said the affidavit system is authorized by a provision in the state board’s manual interpreting state election laws.

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Intercession asked for voting time

Seattle, Washington (UP) –
Senator Mon C. Wallgren, Democratic candidate for Governor, today wired President Roosevelt asking immediate presidential intercession against the alleged refusal of the management of the “hush-hush” federal project at Hanford, Washington, to grant workers time off to vote.

Senator Wallgren’s wire stated:

I ask your immediate intercession to see that regulations promulgated by other federal departments be made applicable to the Hanford engineering project.

Security regulations in the past have prevented mention of the number of employees working at the huge project, or the nature of the work involved.

[NormanStewart]

Coast candidate files libel suit

Hollywood, California (UP) –
Radio producer Harold “Hal” Styles, Democratic Congressional candidate in California’s 15th district, today filed a million-dollar libel suit against the Los Angeles Examiner, charging the newspaper “maliciously” linked him with the Ku Klux Klan.

The suit, filed in Superior Court, was based upon an article and a cartoon appearing in the Oct. 26 edition.

Mr. Styles said he had demanded and been refused a retraction.

[NormanStewart]

Fighting men overseas will get results

Broadcasts begin at 7 o’clock tonight

Washington (UP) –
Election returns will be radioed to U.S. fighting forces on every continent and in the remotest islands of the South Pacific today.

News will be flashed over Signal Corps and commercial wireless by a special point-to-point voice-casting arrangement.

Six shortwave transmitters on the East Coast will send five-minute bulletins across the Atlantic beginning at 7:00 p.m. EWT and seven other shortwave outlets will provide identical coverage starting at 8:00 p.m. EWT.

Far into the night

Also at 8:00 p.m. EWT, six powerful transmitters on the West Coast will begin flashing returns to the small Pacific Islands, Alaska, China, Hawaii, the Philippines, New Guinea and Australia.

Two stations made available to the Army by OWI will broadcast bulletins and summaries on the returns from the Army News Service in New York from 9:45 p.m. EWT through 2:30 a.m. EWT to Great Britain, Italy, the Mediterranean and North Africa.

The Army Communications Service hopes to reach even Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s troops on Leyte with a point-to-point voice casting by Army announcers direct from New York.

State returns tomorrow

Additional election coverage by Signal Corps and commercial wireless, through extra editions of The Stars and Stripes and widely-scattered unit newspapers and rebroadcasts of shortwave will give soldiers on isolated fronts full returns.

Tomorrow, a detailed analysis of the state voting will be sent by airmail to all overseas newspapers and radio stations.

[NormanStewart]

President will vote in Hyde Park hall

Hyde Park, New York (UP) –
President Roosevelt today did all he possibly could toward defeating his Republican opponent, Governor Dewey, by going to the polls and voting – for Roosevelt.

Following a custom of the years, the President and his wife were scheduled to appear at the white-walled town hall of Hyde Park this afternoon and cast their ballots.

To get returns in home

Tonight, the President will settle down in the library of his home and watch election returns fed into his house through press association wires and in other dispatches from party leaders throughout the nation. And if around midnight there is a clear trend of his victory, the loyal Democrats of predominantly Republican Dutchess County will organize a torchlight parade and weave through the President’s estate to give him their personal congratulations.

Last night, the President returned to his house after an afternoon tour of the Hudson Valley to broadcast an appeal for a vote of 50 million to prove the democratic process in this country and resultantly assure a lasting peace.

Introduced by Georgia girl

He was introduced on the air by Bettie McCall, Decatur, Georgia, who was chosen as the typical 18-year-old Georgia college girl who, under her state laws, is eligible to vote. She was presented on a Democratic committee program by Julius O. Regnier, 94, who will vote in his 19th presidential election and who shook hands with Abraham Lincoln at Galesburg, Illinois, in 1898.

In the afternoon, the President made a four-and-a-half-hour drive around the Hudson Valley, giving a “howdy do” to his neighbors and a sharp political needle to Rep. Hamilton Fish (R-NY), who is one of the President’s more outspoken and active political foes.

The President made no political predictions except to say that he “hoped” he would not be beaten “too badly” in traditionally-Republican Dutchess County.

He recalled that when he campaigned down the Hudson Valley four years ago, he was reputed to have said that obviously was his last trip as a candidate for public office. “This time,” he added, “I’m not doing any prophesying.”

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Governor to ballot in New York City

Albany, New York (UP) –
Governor Dewey submitted his candidacy for the Presidency to the nation’s voters today with an appeal for a Republican victory “to shorten the war” and lay the groundwork for post-war peace and prosperity.

That was the theme of his final message closing the first wartime political campaign in America since 1864.

The GOP candidate asked that every qualified voter in the nation participate in today’s election. He proposed to suit his own words to action by traveling from Albany to New York City, where he has been a registered Republican for 21 years.

To vote after noon

His schedule provided that, accompanied by his wife and a host of reporters, he leave Albany by special tram and arrive in New York City at 12:10 p.m. ET, there proceeding directly to his polling Place at 108 East 48th Street to cast his vote before retiring to his suite at the Roosevelt Hotel to await the election returns.

The Governor made his last speech of the campaign last night in a 15-minute radio talk over all networks.

Describing today’s election as one which “may be the most fateful in our history,” and “a test for each of us of our devotion to the American system of government,” he declared:

The great test is whether, knowing we need a new administration, we will make the change necessary to speed victory and to build the peace to come.”

Three questions for voters

He predicted that the years from 1945 to 1949 will be important, difficult years, requiring “vigorous, hardworking, harmonious leadership, with abiding faith in America.”

He asserted that “everyone will agree that we need improvement and need it badly.”

In conclusion, he posed for voters in today’s election three questions:

How can I help shorten the war? How can I help secure lasting peace? How can I help give jobs and opportunity in the years that lie beyond our victory?

He said:

If you will soberly ask yourself these questions and will think the answers through in the light of your own knowledge, I have no doubt of the outcome.

[NormanStewart]

West Virginians vote on governor

By the United Press

West Virginia’s two gubernatorial candidates took to the airways last night in a last-minute appeal for the support of the state’s 1,046,514 registered voters and to land a final punch in one of the most strenuous general election campaigns in state history.

Both candidates, confident of victory, spoke from their home cities in an effort to bring out the vote today.

Mayor D. Boone Dawson, GOP nominee, spoke from Charleston, delivering a “thank you” message to the voting public.

Circuit Judge Clarence W. Meadows, Democratic nominee, spoke from Beckley and urged a heavy vote.

In addition to electing a governor, West Virginians will select members of the Board of Public Works, a judge of the State Supreme Court of Appeals, 16 Senators, 94 members of the House of Delegates, 25 judges and six Congressmen.

[NormanStewart]

Editorial: United we stand

Today we vote as partisans, but we do not cease to be Americans, We shall prove that, when the verdict of the polls is in, by laying politics aside and joining hands to support the chosen President.

People in other countries are said to be amazed that we in the United States have dared, at a crucial moment in history’s greatest war, to argue our differences of opinion publicly and hotly and even bitterly in an election campaign “as usual.” They think it displayed a lack of unity which we might wisely have concealed.

Such people do not know the secret of our strength. They fail to understand that we preserve our unity because we do argue publicly about our differences and because, at stated intervals, we settle our arguments by casting our ballots and accepting the results. If we had feared to hold an election at this time, that would indeed have been a sign of division, deep and dangerous.

In this campaign, as in many, many others, things have been said on both sides that might better have been left unsaid. But a reading of history would show that more bitter campaigns than this one have come and gone and left no lasting scars. And none has revealed a more fundamental agreement on main objectives – to win the war quickly, to make America’s influence count decisively for enduring peace, to achieve sound prosperity and abundant employment within the framework of the private-enterprise system.

Those were the things pledged by both presidential candidates, for the compelling reason that those are the things most desired by a vast majority of the American people, Democrats and Republicans and independents alike. Our arguments have been about methods and men, not about goals.

The next President, whether his name be Dewey or Roosevelt, will need the support of a united nation. He will have it. The nation will need the leadership of a President whose aim is to preserve unity. May it have that!

As we await the returns tonight, let us resolve not to gloat in victory, not to sulk in defeat, not to cherish partisanship and forget sportsmanship. We have mighty tasks ahead of us. We must tackle them together.

[NormanStewart]

Editorial: You can always turn it off

Not so many years ago, a citizen could take his politics or leave it alone. He didn’t have to listen to campaign speeches unless he wanted to.

Then, the radio revised campaign methods in 1928 and now you can’t escape hearing the candidates.

But there’s more to come – in the post-war world. Senator Wagner, last Sunday night, was the first candidate for major office to be televised right into the homes of voters. Wonder what the campaign of 1948 will be like?