The Pittsburgh Press (August 1, 1944)
‘Fish vs. Dewey’ showdown today
New York primary holds spotlight
By the United Press
Primary balloting in New York, one of four states holding primary elections, today determines if Governor Thomas E. Dewey, Republican presidential nominee, can read Rep. Hamilton Fish out of the GOP.
Mr. Fish, running for renomination in New York’s 29th district, has been assailed by Governor Dewey and Wendell L. Willkie, the 1940 GOP nominee, for allegedly injecting religious and racial issues into his campaign.
He is opposed by Newburgh attorney Augustus W. Bennet, who is the unopposed candidate of both the Democratic and American Labor Party. Mr. Bennet’s name will be on the fall election ballot whether or not he wins the Republican nomination.
Other contests
Mr. Fish’s fight for renomination far overshadows any other contest in the three other states (Missouri, Kansas and Virginia) holding primaries today.
Second in importance is Democratic Senator Bennett Champ Clark’s fight for renomination in Missouri, where Attorney General Roy McKittrick has waged a strong campaign against Senator Clark’s pre-war isolationist record.
Many unopposed
In the Republican gubernatorial race, former GOP State Chairman Charles Ferguson is running against Jean Paul Bradshaw and State Health Commissioner James Stewart.
All of the state’s 13 incumbent Congressmen are up for renomination, with nine of them (five Republicans and four Democrats) unopposed.
The only contests in the Virginia primary are in the 2nd and 4th districts and in Kansas, there are no contests in four of six Congressional districts. Governor Andrew Schoeppel is unopposed for renomination on the Republican ticket.
In New York City, a feature race is that of Rep. Vito Marcantonio, who is attempting to gain renomination from three political parties.